Assessment of treatment tolerance and parental perspective of outpatient pulsed-dye laser treatment for port wine birthmark without general anesthesia in infants and toddlers

Treatment Patterns of Port-Wine Birthmarks With Pulsed Dye Laser Among Dermatology Practices in the United States

“…Additionally, the fact that dermatology practices with an age requirement are less likely to employ dermatologists with fellowship training in lasers and are more likely to utilize nonphysicians for PDL treatment suggests that such age restrictions may stem from limited training and education. Missing the short-lived treatment window in infancy that enables office-based PDL treatment without general anesthesia—which has been shown to be efficacious, well-tolerated, and preferred by parents 3,4 —may necessitate the need for general anesthesia during PDL treatments later in childhood. This is important as treatment under general anesthesia is more expensive, only offered by 16.2% of practices, and associated with potential adverse neurocognitive effects from repeated exposure in childhood.…”

Successful treatment of facial port-wine birthmark in a premature infant

“…Early initiation of PDL therapy during infancy is well-tolerated, provides superior long-term results, and produces a much less evident lesion by the time the child is psychologically aware. 1 , 3 , 4 However, optimal timing of the initiation of treatment has yet to be established in prematurely born infants.…”

Treatment Update of Port-Wine Stain

“…7 Infants can generally be soothed and return to baseline within minutes following treatment. 8 In-office treatment may also offer total cost savings of over $18,000-24,000 with a typical treatment plan that incorporates 6-8 treatment sessions. 9In regard to the future of PWB treatments, we would like to also include the use of dynamic optical coherence tomography (OCT).…”

“…7 Infants can generally be soothed and return to baseline within minutes following treatment. 8 In-office treatment may also offer total cost savings of over $18,000-24,000 with a typical treatment plan that incorporates 6-8 treatment sessions. 9…”