Evaluation of histologic changes after microdermabrasion in a porcine model

There is a paucity of scientific information on the histologic changes associated with the clinical response to microdermabrasion.

In this study we sought to evaluate those changes in the skin after microdermabrasion, using a porcine model.

Using the left flank of an 8-week-old pig, we tattooed 4 areas with "A," "B," "C," and "D." Each of these areas was subdivided, in a gridlike fashion, from the dorsal to the ventral surface into 3 x 3-cm squares, which were numbered 1 through 8. Vacuum was initiated at 25 mm Hg the first week and increased by 5 mm Hg for each of 7 weeks to a high of 55 mm Hg in week 7. Biopsy specimens from each grid were obtained weekly. These samples were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and with the Verhoff/Van Geison (elastin) stain. Blinded histologic review of the biopsy specimens was performed by a dermatopathologist. Histometric analyses of the biopsy specimens were performed in which dermal thickness (millimeters), collagen-bundle thickness (microns), and epidermal thickness (microns) were all measured.

Dermal thickness was increased by as much as 40% in the thinner skin and by 27% in the thicker skin. Similarly, the increase in collagen-bundle thickness was 22%, whereas the increase in the epidermal thickness was 9%.

The findings of this preliminary study appear to indicate that microdermabrasion produces real increases in dermal thickness, collagen-bundle thickness, and epidermal thickness. Histologically, the procedure produces changes similar to those seen after dermabrasion, laser resurfacing, and chemical peels.