Laser treatment of epidermal and dermal lesions.

The CO2 laser is a versatile and effective tool for the treatment of warts and various other epidermal and dermal lesions where there is no easily targeted chromophore other than water. The development of high peak-power short-pulsed or rapidly scanned resurfacing CO2 lasers has significantly improved the safety and efficacy of this treatment modality. Many lesions amenable to CO2 laser vaporization, however, can be treated by other, far less expensive methods, and it is the laser surgeon's responsibility to use the CO2 laser only when it is demonstrably the best treatment option. The pulsed dye laser has some utility for selected recalcitrant warts. Because of their greater safety margin and more precise ablation, resurfacing CO2 and Er:YAG lasers are replacing the continuous wave CO2 laser for the ablation of many superficial lesions.