Tretinoin in the preoperative and postoperative management of dermabrasion

Full-face or half-face dermabrasions for acne scarring were performed in 123 patients, 88 of whom received pretreatment for at least 2 weeks with 0.05% tretinoin cream. In the group that received tretinoin, healing, as evidenced by reepithelialization, was complete by 7 days; most of these patients completely healed in 5 days. All patients who did not receive tretinoin healed by 11 days, but none healed sooner than 7 days. No milia or postinflammatory hyperpigmentation was experienced by patients treated with tretinoin when the drug was resumed within 1 week after dermabrasion. In the group that received no tretinoin, milia and postinflammatory hyperpigmentation occurred in 28% of patients postoperatively.