Carbon dioxide laser ablation of dermatosis papulosa nigra: high satisfaction and few complications in patients with pigmented skin

Dermatosis papulosa nigra (DPN) is a common condition of pigmented skin. Whilst lesions are benign, they may be symptomatic or cosmetically disfiguring. Ablative lasers have previously been reported as a useful therapeutic modality in DPN. We report the largest case series to date of patients with DPN ablated with the carbon dioxide (CO₂) laser. A retrospective case note review was conducted of all patients with DPN treated in our laser clinic in the last five years, and a post-treatment telephone survey was undertaken to assess patient satisfaction. Forty-five patients were identified, with a median age of 41 years (range 25–74 years), of whom 37 (82 %) were female. The median number of treatments undertaken was three (range 1–10). Of the 18 respondents to the telephone survey, when asked to grade their satisfaction with the procedure out of 10, median response was 9.5 (range 6–10) with nine patients citing the maximum score of 10. All patients replied that their confidence had improved following the procedure and that they would recommend the treatment to other patients. Five respondents (28 %) reported recurrence of a few lesions following CO₂ laser ablation; the remaining 13 respondents (72 %) reported no recurrence of DPN. No respondents reported any other post-procedural complications (including scarring, hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation). We advocate use of the CO₂ laser as a safe, convenient means of treating DPN, with a high degree of patient satisfaction, low recurrence rate and few complications.