The synergy between vacuum and electromagnetic fields in the treatment of striae distensae: retrospective study on 917 patients with clinical and histological case records
PA Bacci, G Alberti, D Amuso, A Artigiani, V Benitez Roig, V Di Nardo, V Garcia-Gimenez, D Greco, S Laura, M Pagano, A Reale, I Sarracco, S Saracoglu, C Urbani, E Venditti, M Wade and R Zunica
ABSTRACT
Striae distensae (SD) are dermal lesions that cause evident and unwanted imperfections. They may occur on arms, shoulders, breasts, abdomen, gluteus and legs, usually during puberty and pregnancy. At an early stage they feature a reddish-purple colour (striae rubrae) with an inflamed appearance; at the second stage, which is defined as the chronic stage, they are also marked by hypopigmentation and dermo-epidermal atrophy. During the past twenty years, various technologies have been put forth in the treatment of striae, which have shown encouraging outcomes in some cases. This retrospective study has been conducted on 917 patients that presented stretch marks on their body. Patients underwent a treatment based on the synergy between electromagnetic fields and vacuum; 6 to 9 sessions of treatment were performed for each patient once or twice a week. Clinical evaluation was carried out at the end of the treatment cycle; patients and doctors each rated their level of satisfaction on a scale from 0 to 100%. The outcome was documented through biopsies taken on 20 patients. All patients demonstrated an improvement of their stretch marks and 83% of the patients declared being very/extremely satisfied with the result. The results of the biopsies demonstrated a reorganization of the skin layers and a qualitative and quantitative increase of collagen and elastic fibres and all patients declared a total absence of side effects. The uniformity of the results, patient compliance and lack of adverse reactions proved that the synergy between electromagnetic fields and vacuum is an effective and safe treatment for stretch marks.