Methods: 10 patients with 13 erosive-atrophic OLP resistant to standard therapy participated in this study. The size and clinical score of the lesions and the level of pain/discomfort were recorded before treatment. The lesions were then removed with a CO2 laser device (10600 nm, continuous wave, 5 W). The patients were evaluated 1 month and 3 months later and the response rate was assessed according to the decrease in sign and pain scores and size of the lesions.
Results: There was a significant reduction in pain symptom and lesion size at 1 and 3 months following laser treatment (P<0.05). The sign scores of the lesions were also significantly improved at follow-up periods compared to the pretreatment state (P<0.05). At the end of the follow-up period, 54% of the lesions showed 3 or 4 degrees of improvement in the clinical score and 23% improved 1 or 2 degrees.
Conclusions: The present results indicate that the CO2 laser surgery is an effective modality for management of erosive-atrophic OLP.