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CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2016; 43(06): 570-574
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2016.43.6.570
Original Article

The Use of Locally Applied Vibration to Minimize Pain during Fractional CO2 Laser Therapy in Living Liver-Donor Scar Management

Authors

  • Sinyoung Song

    Department of Plastic Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

  • Dong Hoon Choi

    Department of Plastic Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

  • Tae Suk Oh

    Department of Plastic Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
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Background Fractional CO2 laser is an effective treatment for scars, but most patients complain about sharp burning pain, even after the application of lidocaine ointment. This study analyzed the impact of a vibrating device to nonpharmacologically reduce the acute pain of laser treatment, in accordance with the gate control theory of pain management.

Methods This is a prospective study performed from May 2013 through March 2014. Fifty-three patients (mean age, 26.7 years; range, 16–44 years) who had donated livers for liver transplantation were treated with a fractional CO2 laser (10,600 nm; model eCO2, Lutronic Corp) for their abdomen scars. Laser treatment was applied 4 months after surgery. A commercially available, locally applied vibrating device (model UM-30M, Unix Electronics Co. Ltd.) was used, in an on-and-off pattern, together with the CO2 laser. A visual analogue scale (VAS; 0, no pain; 10, most severe pain) of pain sensation was assessed and statistically analyzed using a paired t-test.

Results The average VAS score for pain with the vibrating device was 4.60 and the average VAS score without the vibrating device was 6.11. The average difference between scores was 1.51 (P=0.001).

Conclusions A locally applied vibrating device was demonstrated to be effective in reducing pain when treating with a fractional CO2 laser. Vibration treatment could be helpful when treating scars with fractional CO2 laser in pain-sensitive patients, particularly children.

Keywords

Vibration - Lasers - Pain management

This article contains supplemental Video S1.




Publication History

Received: 01 May 2016

Accepted: 19 October 2016

Article published online:
20 April 2022

© 2016. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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