The Fractionated Ablation Face Off

Anthony M. Rossi, MD

Dr. Rossi is a Fellow in Procedural Dermatology and Mohs Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering and Weill Cornell/New York-Presbyterian Hospital, both in New York, New York.

Dr. Rossi reports no conflicts of interest in relation to this post.

The September 2012 issue of Dermatologic Surgery (2012;38:1477-1489) featured a randomized controlled trial of 4 different fractionated ablative lasers used in the treatment of facial photoaging. The authors utilized 4 different lasers on 12 participants, with the treatment area being the face (divided into 4 quadrants). The lasers tested included the Fraxel Repair (Solta Medical Inc) fractionated CO₂ 10,600-nm laser, Active and Deep FX (Total FX; Lumenis) fractionated CO₂ 10,600-nm laser, Quadralase (Candela) fractionated CO₂ 10,600-nm laser, and Pearl Fractional (Fx; Cutera) fractionated yttrium-scandium-gallium-garnet (YSGG) 2790-nm laser.