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CO2 Laser Revision for Burn Related Donor Site Scars

Ablative Fractional CO2 Laser Revision for Burn Related Donor Site Scars: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04456127
Enrollment
25
Registered
2020-07-02
Start date
2020-01-21
Completion date
2026-04-12
Last updated
2025-05-31

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Burn Scar, Scar, Skin Graft Scar

Keywords

laser

Brief summary

Scarring from burn wounds remains a chronic and often severe sequela of burn injury. Burn wounds may be left to heal by secondary intention or treated with surgical skin grafting; in both circumstances, significant scars likely result. When surgical skin grafting is employed, skin graft harvest sites (donor sites) likewise result in clinically significant scars. This study will have interventional and observational components. Patients will receive the standard fractional ablative CO2 treatments to their scars resulting from burn wounds allowed to heal by secondary intention and/or those treated with skin grafts. These will be prospectively observed for the duration of the study as well as adjacent normal skin. In addition, a donor site that meets inclusion criteria that would not have otherwise received LSR will be identified as a treatment site. Patients with have one half of their donor sites randomized to standard of care (SOC) treatment, which consists of wound dressings, compression therapy, physical and occupational therapies and the other half randomized to SOC + ablative fractional CO2 laser therapy (LSR).

Interventions

PROCEDUREFractional CO2 Laser

The UltraPulse® fractional ablative CO2 Laser will be employed with the DeepFX™ hand piece. Number of passes and laser settings, including fluency, density, spot size, will be chosen during the time of treatment as determined by the operating surgeon.

Sponsors

Medstar Health Research Institute
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Intra-subject comparison

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* ≥ 18 years of age * At least 1 second or third degree burn wound that required treatment with split-thickness skin grafts * Donor site with at least a 4 x 4 inch surface area * Able to return to clinical site for treatments and assessments of burn injuries

Exclusion criteria

* Pregnancy or nursing * Oral retinoid medication use within the past 6 months * Medical history of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, AIDS * Nutritional deficiencies in the opinion of the investigator that would affect wound healing * Wounds complicated by clinically significant infection within past 30 days

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Comparison of Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale, VSS, and Delfin Instruments2 monthsThe primary endpoint will be assessment of control and treatment halves at follow-up evaluation completed 2 months ± 2 weeks after the final laser treatment. The change in scale measure from baseline to date of assessment will be used to compare treatment vs control scar halves. This will be calculated and compared using paired t-test with a p-value of 0.05 as the cutoff for significance.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026