Residual Scarring From Hidradenitis Suppurativa: Fractionated CO2 Laser as a Novel and Noninvasive Approach

AUTHORS: Andrew C. Krakowski, MD^a,b, Shehla Ad­mani, MD^a,b, Nathan S. Uebelhoer DO^c, Lawrence F. Eichenfield, MD^a,b, and Peter R. Shu­maker, MD^c

RESEARCH SITES: ^aUniversity of Califor­nia, San Diego, La Jolla, California; ^bRady Children’s Hospital, San Diego, California; and ^cNaval Medical Center, San Diego, California

PUBLICATION: ^JPediatrics Vol. 133 No. 1, pp. e248 -e251

YEAR: 2014

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin condition that can have a significant psychosocial impact, both with the active disease and with residual scarring. Although a wide variety of treatment op­tions exist for HS, to our knowledge there are no reported modalities aimed specifically at treating HS scarring. We describe the case of an adolescent female who received medical management of intramammary HS followed by successful treatment with fractionated 10 600-nm carbon dioxide laser for her residual cribriform scarring. We believe there is great potential for the use of fractionated carbon dioxide laser to improve short- and long-term psychosocial outcomes of HS, promote physical scar remodeling, and possibly alter the disease process itself.