Dermatologic surgery : official publication for American Society for Dermatologic Surgery [et al.]
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Letter Multicenter Study
Dermatological surgery—time for single-use instruments?
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Skin sterility after application of a vapocoolant spray.
Refrigerant sprays have been widely used to reduce pain in the office setting. However, more recently, their use has been limited by both concern regarding flammability and questions of bacterial contamination. ⋯ The topical antiseptic povidone-iodine significantly reduces skin colonization when compared with unprepared skin (p < .001). The vapocoolant 1,1,1,3,3 pentafluoropropane and 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane is sprayed on skin prepared with povidone-iodine; there is no statistically significant increase in bacterial colonization.
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Concern over transection of melanomas has inhibited many practitioners from using the scoop-shave for removal of pigmented lesions. ⋯ The scoop-shave is a safe and effective technique for diagnosis and treatment of melanocytic lesions.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A comparison of the scar prevention effect between carbon dioxide fractional laser and pulsed dye laser in surgical scars.
The use of ablative lasers based on the fractional approach is a novel strategy for the treatment of postoperative and acne scars in addition to wrinkles. ⋯ Pulsed dye laser and AFL treatments for surgical scar provide significant improvement. Pulsed dye laser was more effective in color of scar compared with AFL, which showed marked improvement in the contour of scar. Overall improvement was not statistically different in the Vancouver Scar Scale.
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Little is known about postoperative opioid prescribing patterns among dermatologic surgeons. ⋯ The retrospective review suggests that opioid prescribing is predicted by characteristics of the surgery (i.e., size, defect repair type, and anatomic location) and characteristics of the surgeon (i.e., age, sex, and practice location) with significant heterogeneity in prescribing habits. The national survey results raise the possibility that patients might not take all prescribed opioid pills after dermatologic surgery. Further investigation is warranted to determine how patients are actually using prescription pain pills to balance pain control with patient safety.