The American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery

High energy pulsed, or computer-scanned, continuous-wave carbon dioxide (CO₂) laser has become a popular tool for wrinkle treatment because it causes minimal thermal injury and the tissue vaporization depth can be precisely controlled. Radiosurgery for this purpose has been used to a lesser extent, but is also beneficial for the treatment of facial wrinkles. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness and side effect profile of the Sharplan SilkTouch CO₂ laser with those of the Ellman Surgitron FFPF radiosurgery unit in the treatment of upper lip wrinkles and is, to our knowledge, the first study to compare a CO₂ laser with high-frequency radiosurgery for this purpose.

Twenty female subjects with moderate to severe upper lip wrinkles were randomly treated with the SilkTouch CO₂ laser on one side of the upper lip and radiosurgery on the other side.

The average laser-treated wrinkle score (0 = none to 5 = severe) decreased from 4.05 ± 0.2 before treatment to 1.6 ± 0.23 after treatment. The average radiosurgery-treated wrinkle score decreased from 4.2 ± 0.18 to 2.6 ±0.2 after treatment. The degree to which wrinkle score improved after laser treatment compared with radiosurgery treatment was statistically significant (P < .0051).

Treatment with CO₂ laser resulted in greater improvement of upper lip wrinkles than did treatment with radiosurgery.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of pulsed short-wave diathermy on the recovery of patients undergoing liposuction.

Ten female patients had one thigh treated with 27.12-MHz pulsed short-wave diathermy for 20 minutes prior to surgery, 1 day and 5 days postoperatively. The contralateral thigh received no diathermy treatment. The surgeon was blinded to which thigh received the diathermy and performed liposuction evenly to both thighs. Patients' swelling, bruising, and level of pain were measured.

The area treated with diathermy demonstrated a significant decrease in swelling at day 1 (= 0.66 cm vs + 1.38 cm) and day 5 (–0.5 cm vs −0.1). The area treated with diathermy also resulted in significantly less bruising at day 1 (15.31 cm² vs 18.62 cm²).

There was no significant difference in postoperative pain. Pulsed short-wave diathermy restricts and decreases swelling and bruising following liposuction surgery.

Nipple and areola reconstruction have recently become in demand because more women are having breast surgery because of breast cancer diagnoses. Many methods for reconstructing the nipple and areola of the breast have been described and several treatment methods have been developed to improve the aesthetic results. The purpose of this paper is to describe one method, dermatography, a refined method of medical tattooing and the results obtained from this method.

Over 10 years, 112 patients were treated with dermatography for nipple and areola reconstructions. Of these, 89 patients had received a unilateral reconstruction and 23 received a bilateral reconstruction. The first dermatographic treatment was given 8–12 months after the last intervention by the plastic surgeon. The average session lasted 45 minutes. Results were assessed by means of a short questionnaire. Results over time were evaluated by comparing pictures from previous sessions.

Dermatography uses a modified tattooing called a dermainjector machine. Keloidectomy is the technique used to reduce keloid in postoperative scars. The needles of the dermainjector are positioned at an angle of 70–90 degrees to the scar surface. Small parts of the keloid are removed. At the same time pigmentation is performed.

Patients evaluated their results as satisfactory. Pigmentation over 5 years was judged to be stable with minor loss of pigment in only 6% of the patients, all of whom received radiation therapy for their cancer. Dermatography was well tolerated by the patients. None of the patients required local anesthesia.

Patients receiving total resection of their breasts are getting younger and perceiving the results as a severe deformation of their bodies. Results of reconstruction are judged very critically. We found that our patients considered the general visual aspect of the nipple and areola shape more important, and most of the patients did not consider reconstruction of the actual nipple mound to be necessary.