Summary Introduction: the treatment of acne scars and post-surgery to open a border fractional lasers in the management of a disease with a high incidence around the world and on which there is no gold-standard treatment. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of fractional lasers in the management of post acne scars and post-surgery and in determining the most common adverse events associated with the use of this technology. Materials and methods: A systematic (Cochrane, PubMed, Science Direct, Ovid, Hinari, Interscience and Lilacs) controlled clinical trials published through December 2009. We selected four randomized controlled clinical trials based on methodological quality and extracted the following data: sample size, parameters, types of scars, outcomes, adverse events and satisfaction. Also studied a wide variety of reviews about the pathophysiology, morphology and severity of the scars and the current methods of treatment. Results: Fractional technology is effective in treating acne scars and post-surgery to achieve improvement in texture, color and general appearance, which ranged between 50 and 70% as evidenced in the studies included in the review (24, 25, 26, 27). The patient satisfaction exceeded 60%. There was a low incidence of adverse effects were mild and transient, short disability and the main one was postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. Conclusion: Fractional photothermolysis is effective and safe in treating acne scars and post-surgical and has advantages over other systems (26, 27). The methods that combine different lasers provide the greatest benefit. Keywords: fractional photothermolysis, fractional lasers, post-acne scars, scars after surgery, scarring.
