Abstract
Chronic wounds pose significant challenges to patients and potentially reduce patients' quality of life. A prospective randomised control trial (RCT) was conducted in Russia between 2018 and 2021 to assess the effectiveness of treating chronic wounds with a high-intensity Erbium: Yttrium Aluminium Garnet (Er:YAG with RecoSMA (Reconstructive Spatially Modulated Ablation module for distributing laser radiation into microbeams) laser technology versus sharp debridement in 144 patients (treatment group N = 71; control N = 73) with diabetic foot, venous and arterial leg ulcers. The median ulcer size at baseline in the treatment and control group was 11 cm(2) and 10 cm(2) with median ulcer duration of 16 months and 15 months, respectively. The endpoints were the time to achieve a clean wound bed, time to granulation, extent of complete and marginal epithelialisation, change in wound area, presence of bacteria, levels of topical wound pain, and the patients' tolerance of debridement. A difference at p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. After a 30-day observation period, complete epithelialisation occurred in more than twice as many wounds in the treatment group (56.3%) compared to the control group (26%). The Er:YAG laser was more effective than sharp debridement in clearing wounds of microbial flora, stimulating tissue regeneration, promoting early granulation, marginal epithelialisation and wound healing, suggesting that Er:YAG laser therapy may offer greater benefits than conventional methods of sharp debridement of slow healing wounds.