Pigmented and Depressed Facial Scar after an External Injury: Successful Treatment with 1,064-nm Picosecond Neodymium: Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet Laser Simply Combined with a Fractional Beam-Splitter Handpiece

Abstract

A 29-year-old man presented with facial scars one and half years after an external injury. A physical examination revealed a slightly depressed linear scar with bluish brown pigments from traumatic tattoos on the nasal root. He was treated with a 1,064-nm picosecond neodymium:yttriumaluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser combined with a fractional picosecond mode by integrating a holographic beam splitter handpiece. After five sessions of this simple combined treatment modality, the patient achieved significant clinical improvement with no downtime period. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first case of the effective treatment of facial scars after a skin injury using a 1,064-nm picosecond Nd:YAG laser together with a simple combination of a fractional beam splitter handpiece, successfully targeting both the traumatic tattoos and depressed scars. Key words