Laser CO2 versus radiotherapy in treatment of keloid scars.

Keloids and hypertrophic scars are quite common diseases that can occur after any kind of wound and skin inflammation in predisposed individuals. Despite their benign nature, they can be aesthetically disabling and they are often accompanied by unpleasant symptoms such pain, burning and itching. Several approaches have been tried but most of them with poor results. Ablative fractional CO(2) laser seems to be an encouraging approach in treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars, not only for its efficacy, but also for its low harmfulness. Radiotherapy following surgical excision is commonly used to treat these scars, but an increased incidence of different kinds of cancer from radiation has been demonstrated in several cases. Compared to radiotherapy, the use of CO(2) laser after surgical excision of keloids has shown great results with no recurrence and without the risk of carcinogenesis.