Efficacy of Laser Debridement on Pain and Bacterial Load in Chronic Wounds

Laser debridement entailed usage of an Er:YAG laser, employing the JOULE® machine (Sciton, Inc., Palo Alto, California). Full-field ablation was performed using the 2940 nm Er:YAG Contour TRL Resurfacing® application with the following settings: fluence - 50 J/cm2, spot overlap - 50%, pattern repeat - 0.5 seconds, spot size - 3-mm (Figure 1). Debridement was carried out until all fibrinous and/or necrotic tissues were removed, and healthy, bleeding tissue was visualized.

Using a scalpel/curette, each patient's chronic wound is debrided until healthy, viable tissue is noted.