DANA POINT, CALIF. – Be wary of clinicians who claim that they never have complications from laser surgery procedures, Dr. A. Jay Burns advised physicians to tell their patients at the Summit in Aesthetic Medicine.
Such clinicians "are either liars, or they’ve only practiced for about 5 minutes," Dr. Burns, of the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute, said at the meeting, sponsored by Skin Disease Education Foundation (SDEF). "I tell my patients to run from them. We all have complications."
In general, he continued, complications "decrease the better you are trained and the more detail-oriented you are. I don’t know how you legislate that. You also have to care; you have to have compassion."
During separate presentations, he and Dr. Eric F. Bernstein, a board-certified dermatologist who practices laser surgery in Ardmore, Pa., offered practical tips on how to best prevent complications from laser surgery, including the following:
• Know thy laser. "In general, there is less margin for error the cheaper the device, the more corners cut in research and development, the smaller the spot size, and the use of manual treatment versus scanned treatment," Dr. Burns said. "Complications can be minimized by good technique and good postoperative care."
• Don’t take treatment advice from sales representatives. "You are responsible for the treatment no matter what, so research the science and talk to colleagues," Dr. Bernstein said. "I have three words for sales reps bringing a device they tout as safe and effective: ‘Have a seat!’ Sales reps who believe in their products will happily be your first patient, and they will come back for follow-up. You can count on it."
• Take note of special patient populations. Make sure to ask patients about isotretinoin use. "Most of my colleagues and I wait 6 months after patients have discontinued isotretinoin before laser treatment," Dr. Bernstein said. "In most situations I think that’s the standard of care."
Depending on the laser, he prescribes valacyclovir as prophylaxis in patients with a history of herpes simplex virus or for ablative procedures in any patient. He said that he does not treat patients who have taken gold therapy at any time in their life with lasers, as their skin "will turn gray or black at the site of every laser pulse. This is on my consent form."
Patients with systemic lupus and other connective tissue diseases can flare locally and possibly systemically after treatment with vascular lasers, so he generally avoids treating these patients or treats with caution after spot testing.
He does not treat pregnant patients with elective laser procedures, "although I don’t believe there is any risk from the lasers I use," Dr. Bernstein said. "I treated my wife during her pregnancy because she had so much free time from work during that time. However, we’re in America, and until the legal climate changes dramatically, I just avoid performing elective laser treatments on pregnant patients. Tattoo removal is probably the one case where it is actually less advised to treat patients during pregnancy for medical reasons. That’s because the tattoo pigment as a chemical can become mobilized following laser treatment, not because of the laser."
Sun exposure "is probably the biggest issue that causes complications in patients," he continued. "I tell every laser surgeon to respect melanin pigment, as it is an unwanted target in the skin and can absorb laser light, making the epidermis an unwanted target. In addition, a tan makes for more risk of post-inflammatory hyper- or hypopigmentation following treatment. Patients are rarely honest about their sun exposure."
• Wear protective eyewear while operating the laser. Dr. Bernstein locks the door to the laser room while he treats patients "because I think it’s inappropriate to have laser glasses outside your room and open the door and walk in with the glasses, exposing the people outside the door or walking by to laser light. This may be against certain regulations, since those outside the room would have a hard time entering in the event of a problem, but I am never alone in a room with a patient, and prefer this rule for eye safety."
When someone hands you a pair of protective laser glasses, "look at the wavelength ranges and make sure that they correspond to the wavelength of the laser," he advised. "We all check each other’s glasses to make sure they are the right wavelength. Obviously, it’s best to have only one wavelength per room and have glasses for that laser; however, in my office that’s not possible."