Background and objective: Inadvertent superficial treatment of hand warts causes recurrence, whereas aggressive treatment can lead to tissue defects resulting in hand dysfunction. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of a novel laser treatment modality for recalcitrant hand warts. Materials and methods: The study included 51 patients who were treated for 146 recalcitrant hand warts using 1064 nm long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser between 2011 and 2014. The laser treatment method is novel because each treated wart was aligned at the intersection point of the circles of 3 laser pulses per session. Results: Among the 146 hand warts, 88.35% were successfully treated with one session and 100% of those that required a second treatment session were treated successfully, based on the 12 month follow-up examination. Conclusions: Long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser treatment was observed to be a safe, rapid, and effective method for treating recalcitrant hand warts.
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