Efficacy of combination of intralesional triamcinolone and pulsed dye laser (PDL) in keloid.

Objective To evaluate efficacy of combination of intralesional triamcinolone with PDL in patients with keloid. Methods This is a cross-sectional observational study on patients with keloid referring to Afzalipour hospital during five years. Efficacy of treatment was evaluated by physician's and patients' global assessment. PDL was done in monthly interval with single pulse, no overlapping, 5-10 mm spot size, 0.5-6 ms pulse duration and fluence of 6-10 j/cm2. Intralesional triamcinolone was injected (0.1cc in each one cm2, maximum 2cc) after laser with concentration from 10-40 mg/ml. Results Eighty-two patients (range 2-65 years) with keloid were treated with mean number of 4.05±0.51 treatment sessions (range 2-10). Side effects included purpura, hyperpigmentation, blister, crust formation, persistent erythema and hypopigmentation. Patients were mainly satisfied or very satisfied (73.1%) and physician evaluation demonstrated more than 50% improvement in 70.7% of cases. There was no significant correlation between response rate with demographic features of the patients, site of the lesions or treatment protocol. Conclusion In the current study, nearly third-quarter of the patients demonstrated more than 50% improvement and were satisfied or very satisfied with treatment results. Males, younger patients and lighter skin types showed better outcome. Furthermore, more number of treatment sessions and higher fluence accompanied with better results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]