Histopathologic study of the effect of low level Gallium-Arsenide laser on healing of grade 3 cutaneous burns in the rat

The healing of burn wounds has always attracted attention due to disruption of the healing process which leads to prolonged recovery period. Therefore, the quest for finding clinically effective wound-healing agents is important in the medical management of burn wounds. This study was conducted to investigate the morphometric and histopathologic effects of laser therapy on healing of third degree burns in rats. For this purpose, 64 male Wistar rats were randomly allocated to four treatment groups consisting of Group 1: low level laser therapy (11.7 energy/cm2), Group 2: high level laser therapy (17.5 energy/cm2), Group 3: treatment with nitrofurazone ointment and Group 4: control. Burn wounds were created in all treatment groups by placing a 22 mm cylinder connected to a kettle containing 5 liters of hot water on the skin for 3 seconds. Histopathologic examination confirmed the creation of third degree burn wounds. Gallium-Arsenide laser was used in the study. Histopathologic examination was performed on the 3rd, 7th, 14th, and 21st days. Morphometric evaluations indicated significantly increased wound contraction in laser treated animals particularly in group 1 compared to control group. Also in both laser treated groups, reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells and increased angiogenesis and presence of fibroblasts along with increase in the thickness of epithelium was observed. The results showed significantly improved wound healing in laser treated groups in comparison to nitrofurazone treated and control groups on all evaluation times indicating the wound healing effects of laser therapy on third degree cutaneous burns of rats. Conflict of interest: None declared.