Intense pulsed light versus cryotherapy in the treatment of hypertrophic scars: A clinical and histopathological study.

Abstract

Different therapeutic modalities have been tried for hypertrophic scar treatment. To our knowledge, intense pulsed light (IPL) has not been previously evaluated in comparison with cryotherapy as a stand-alone treatment for hypertrophic scars. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of IPL as a monotherapy for hypertrophic scar treatment as compared with cryotherapy both clinically and histopathologically. This study included 28 patients with hypertrophic scars. Patients were divided randomly and equally into two groups; group I patients received cryotherapy while group II patients received IPL. All patients received treatments for a total of six sessions or until resolution of the lesion whichever was nearer. The outcome was evaluated clinically and histopathologically. Scar height showed a significant decrease and scar color and pliability showed a significant improvement in group I. No significant changes were detected in group II except in scar pliability. Vancouver scar scale (VSS) mean decreased by -53.7% in group I versus -11.5% decrease in group II. Histopathologically, group I showed a significantly increased epidermal thickness and decreased dermal and collagen bundle thickness, while group II showed insignificant histopathological changes. Group I exhibited a statistically significant clinical and histopathological improvement compared to group II, yet with more complications. Cryotherapy is more effective than IPL in the treatment of hypertrophic scars both on clinical and histopathological level yet with more complications.