ND:YAG Laser Therapy of Tongue Venous Malformation

This is a visual representation of the treatment of a venous malformation within the substance of the tongue. The laser directly treats the venous malformation via selective photothermolysis while preventing injury to the tongue itself. Venous malformations infiltrate normal tissue as a birthmark but continue to grow with time and show no evidence of regression. Instead of excising the venous malformation with some of the tongue itself this is a way of controlling the lesion. As seen, the ND:YAG laser set at 25 Watts and 1.0 sec duration is used to shrink the venous malformation. The laser is fired in a polkadot fashion in order to prevent mucosal sloughing. The surface is relatively protected as the laser selective penetrates the VM.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17797/938qzyj3uh