Carbon Dioxide Laser Treatment of Burn-related Scarring: Results of the ELIPSE (Early Laser Intervention Promotes Scar Evolution) Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial

Aim: To investigate the impact of ablative fractional carbon dioxide laser (AFCOL) on patient-reported outcomes measures, subjective scar appearance, dermal architecture, and gene transcription in early burn scars.

Methods: Fifteen adult patients with a burn-related scar were recruited. Inclusion criteria were two non-contiguous scar areas of 1% total body surface area, similar baseline Vancouver scar scale (VSS) score and 3months since the time of injury. All participants acted as their own control. Scars were randomized to treatment or control. Treatment scars received three AFCOL treatments at 6-week intervals. Outcome measures were recorded at baseline, 3, 6, and 1-months post-treatment. Measures included blinded VSS, Patient Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS), Brisbane Burn Scar Impact Profile (BBSIP), blinded scar photo assessment, histological tissue analysis, and RNA sequencing analysis.

Results: No significant difference was found in VSS, scar erythema, or pigmentation. Patient POSAS improved in scar thickness and texture following AFCOL. All elements of BBSIP improved in control and laser groups. AFCOL-treated scars were scored better than control scars by blinded raters. RNA sequencing illustrated that AFCOL induced sustained changes in fibroblast gene expression.

Conclusions: AFCOL treated scars had significantly altered scar thickness and texture 6 months post-laser and were rated better than controls on blinded photo analysis after 3 treatments. RNASeq results suggest laser treatment alters the transcriptome of treated fibroblasts for at least 3 months after treatment. Expansion of this research to study in more depth fibroblast changes in response to laser, as well as assessing the impact on daily activity and quality of life, will be beneficial.