Hemangioma treatment with pulsed dye laser-distinct parameters used between neonatal and non-neonatal patients

摘要

Background: Pulsed dye laser (PDL) treatment remains the standard of care for infantile hemangiomas (IHs). However, the use of PDL to treat IHs in neonates has been hardly reported. In this study, the PDL treatments of IHs between neonatal and non-neonatal patients were retrospectively investigated. Methods: All patients diagnosed with hemangiomas were treated by PDL. Their clinical data were collected, and the treatment outcomes and PDL parameters in neonates and non-neonates were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U-rank test. Results: All patients reached good or excellent scale in the treatment efficiency assessment. Laser energy used per treatment session was significantly lower in neonatal group than in non-neonatal group (Z = -8.980, P < 0.001). Total laser energy used in neonates was also markedly lower than that in non-neonatal patients (Z = -3.065, P = 0.002). However, treatment session numbers in these two groups were not significantly different (Z = -1.725, P = 0.085). Additionally, we observed that after each treatment, the purpura disappeared faster in neonates (2-4 weeks) than in non-neonatal patients (4-6 weeks), indicating neonates might have greater recovery ability. Conclusions: PDL, with distinct parameters, was effective in the treatment of IHs in neonates. After each laser treatment, neonates recovered faster than non-neonatal patients.