Co₂ LASER Therapy as an Option for Non-Healing Surgical Wounds after Radiation Therapy-A Retrospective Study

Radiation has a huge impact on wound healing with progressive and irreversible impairment at the cellular level, making it very challenging for surgeons in terms of wound healing after salvage surgery in previously radiated patients. CO₂ LASER helps in wound healing by its combined effect yielding a better result. Our study aims to retrospectively evaluate the healing outcome in a series of patients post-radiation, diagnosed with head and neck neoplasm recurrence, undergoing CO₂ LASER treatment for non-healing surgical wounds, post salvage surgery having a previous history of radiotherapy in Head and Neck cancers.

A total of seven patients from January 2018 to June 2021 who underwent CO₂ LASER treatment in non-healing surgical wounds, post salvage surgery having a previous history of radiotherapy in Head and Neck cancers were included in this study. Clinical assessment of healing in terms of complete healing, the appearance of the scar, and patient satisfaction, with a follow-up for 18 months.

This series included a total of seven patients, five men and two women, aged between 27 and 62 years with a mean age of 47 years. Three patients had a previous history of radiation, and four patients had a previous history of chemoradiation (CT + RT). Successful healing was noted in all the seven patients. Post-healing all patient's scars were soft, flat, and clinically acceptable. One patient presented with hypopigmentation.

CO₂ LASER therapy speeds up the healing process with minimal discomfort to the patient. CO₂ LASER therapy can be used as an alternative for non-healing surgical wounds after salvage surgery in previously radiated  patients with an unhealthy wound bed where split-thickness skin graft uptake is unpredictable.