Impact of fractional laser resurfacing on Quality of Life in Patients with acne vulgaris

Abstract

Background: Acne vulgaris leaves atrophic scarring in a large majority of patients with moderate to severe disease, and this scarring, more than active inflammatory lesions, drives much of the long-term psychosocial burden associated with the condition.

Objective: This review examines how fractional laser resurfacing affects quality of life in patients with acne vulgaris and post-acne atrophic scarring, integrating objective clinical efficacy data with validated patient-reported outcome measures.

Methods: We synthesized case series, randomized and split-face controlled trials, and comparative reviews addressing non-ablative and ablative fractional laser platforms for acne scar remodeling and their associated quality-of-life outcomes.

Findings: Fractional resurfacing produces durable, blinded-evaluator-confirmed improvement in atrophic scarring across both non-ablative and ablative platforms, and this improvement is accompanied by measurable gains on dermatology-specific and acne-specific quality-of-life instruments, with benefit tracking most closely with reduction in scar visibility at ordinary social distance; treatment burden, including downtime and risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, meaningfully shapes overall patient satisfaction.

Conclusions: Fractional laser resurfacing is an effective, well-tolerated route to durable scar improvement and clinically meaningful quality-of-life benefit in patients with acne vulgaris, and future trials should incorporate validated quality-of-life instruments as standard co-primary outcomes alongside objective scar grading.