Effects of low energy laser on wound healing in a porcine model

Low energy helium neon laser has been suggested as an effective adjuvant in the healing of open wounds. To date, supportive studies have been performed in loose-skinned animals. For such data to be clinically meaningful, it was felt necessary to study this effect in an animal with a dermal structure more closely resembling that of man, the pig. After creating 62 partial thickness wounds on the dorsum of domestic swine, one-half of these were randomized to receive laser treatment. The remainder served as controls. Laser treated wounds received a daily treatment of 15 sec/cm2 at an irradiance of 64 mW/cm2 (energy fluence = .96 J/cm2/day). With these treatment parameters, we could not demonstrate any clinically significant laser induced acceleration of open wound healing.