Keloid, meaning “crab’s claw,” was derived from Greek to describe its characteristic clinical presentation.¹ Keloids appear as elevated, firm bosselated papules and ill-defined plaques accompanied by variation in color, including erythematous, violaceous, or brown pigmentation.

Given their composition of haphazardly branched and septal disorganized type I and III collagen bundles, keloids are often symptomatic with accompanying pain and pruritus. Following disruption of skin integrity resulting from superficial and deep injuries, keloids can form within months to years later, causing cosmetic deformation, functional impairment, psychological distress, and poor quality of life.¹A variety of epidermal to dermal insults are implicated including iatrogenic surgical incisions, burns, trauma wounds, body piercings, insect bites, folliculitis, chickenpox, herpes zoster infection, vaccinations, and acne.¹

There are a wide range of therapies used in treating keloids with various degrees of success graded by time to recurrence.¹ Therapeutic options for keloids and hypertrophic scars includes surgery, radiation, corticosteroids, 5-fluorouracil, cryotherapy, laser therapy.²

Lasers and other light-based technology have introduced new ways to manage keloids that may result in improved aesthetic and symptomatic outcomes and decreased keloid recurrence. Laser and light-based therapies for keloids can be grouped into three categories: ablative lasers, non-ablative lasers, and non-coherent light sources.³

Non ablative laser therapy includes 585 or 595-nm pulsed dye laser, 1064-nm neodymium-doped:yttrium, aluminum and garnet (Nd:YAG) laser, 585 diode laser, etc. Currently, there are no reported studies on the use of the 585 nm diode laser for treating keloids.

Hence, this retrospective study seeks to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of the LP-1064nm NdYAG laser, the 585 nm pulsed dye laser, and the 585 nm diode laser in keloid treatment, as no existing literature has yet assessed these lasers comparatively.