Table 1.

Summary of lasers, intense pulsed light, radiofrequency, and ultrasound for traumatic scars

Devices	Mechanism	Clinical outcome
Pulsed dye laser, potassium titanyl phosphate laser, and intense pulsed light	Target hemoglobin and decrease blood supply [25]; increase expression of CTGF [26, 27]	Improve scar color, texture, and pliability [23, 28–31]
Factional lasers	Fractional photothermolysis [33, 34] and collagen remodeling [38–40]	Improve in appearance and contracture [35, 42–44], relieve pain and pruritus [35, 41, 42], and facilitate drug delivery [45, 46]
Radiofrequency devices	Create micro-plasma sparks and induce thermolysis [51–53]	Effective for both hypertrophic and atrophic scars [52, 54] and facilitate drug delivery [57–59]
Ultrasound	Acoustic pressure and “hammering” effect [57]	Adjuvant therapy for traumatic scars [57–59]

CTGF connective tissue growth factor