A comparative study of efficacy of fractional carbondioxide laser and microneedling fractonal radiofrequency in the treatment of acne scars

Background: Severe acne scars results in permanent scarring and facial disfigurement causing physical and psychosocial distress. Management of acne scars poses a therapeutic challenge for the dermatologists. Ablative lasers do produce significant improvement but associated with post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, prolonged recovery time and scarring. Recently development of fractional carbon dioxide laser and microneedling radiofrequency has proven to be quite effective in the treatment of acne scars. However, till date they have not been compared side by side especially in Indian population. Hence, we intend to conduct the present comparative study.  Objectives: To compare the efficacy of fractional carbon dioxide laser and microneedling fractional radiofrequency in the treatment of facial acne scars. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 patients (18-40 years) having atrophic scars, attending the out-patient department at the Department Of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, Adichunchanagiri Hospital and Research Centre, B.G. Nagara were alternately allocated into group-A (fractional CO2 group) and group-B (MnRF group). Patients in both the groups received four sequential treatments with an interval of 4 weeks between each session. Clinical assessment of the improvement of atrophic scars was done based on Goodman & baron grading system at the end of 1 month after the last session, by a side by side comparison of preoperative and post-operative photographs. In addition, patients were asked to provide their opinion on improvement of scars using the patient satisfaction Visual Analogue Score (VAS). Results: At the end of one month after last session (4 sessions) based on Goodman and Baron’s qualitative assessment, 3(20%) patients showed reduction by 3 grades in group B compared to 2 (13.3%) patients in group A. 10(66.6%) patients showed reduction by 2 grades in group B compared to 9(60%) patients in group A which was found to be statistically no