Treatment of rhinophyma with ER:YAG laser

Background and Objective: Rhinophyma is a benign, disfiguring disorder of the nose which presents the end stage of acne rosacea, and can also occasionally result in nasal airway obstruction. We describe the first series of patients treated with Erbium laser. Study design/Materials and Methods: Severe-to-moderate rhinophyma in six patients were treated at our institution between 1995 and 1996, using the Erbium:YAG (Erb:YAG) laser. Results: All patients achieved marked cosmetic improvement, with no complications. Post-operative healing time was seven to fourteen days-significantly shorter than similar other modalities. Conclusions: The Erbium laser provides very accurate tissue ablation and allows the sculpturing of the hypertrophied areas, offering good cosmetic results, with a very short healing period as shown in our study. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.