Pulsed carbon dioxide laser ablation of burned skin: in vitro and in vivo analysis

Pulsed lasers produce efficient and precise tissue ablation with limited residual thermal damage. In this study, the efficiency of pulsed CO2 laser ablation of burned and normal swine skin was studied in vitro with a mass loss technique. The heats of ablation for normal and burned skin were 2,706 and 2,416 J/cm3 of tissue ablated, respectively. The mean threshold radiant exposures for ablating normal skin and eschar were 2.6 J/cm2 and 3.0 J/cm2, respectively. Radiant exposures greater than 19 J/cm2 produced a plasma, which decreased the efficiency of laser ablation. Thus the radiant exposures for efficient ablation range from 4 to 19 J/cm2, and within this radiant exposure range 20-40 microns of tissue are ablated per pulse. We also examined, on a gross and histopathologic basis, in vivo burn eschar excision with a pulsed CO2 laser. The laser allowed bloodless excisions of full thickness burns on the backs of male hairless rats. The zone of thermal damage was approximately 85 microns over the subjacent fascia. The pulsed CO2 laser can ablate burn eschar efficiently, precisely, and bloodlessly and may prove valuable for the excision of burned and necrotic tissue.