Introduction: Acne scarring is a common undesirable complication of acne vulgaris.

Fractional erbium-yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) 2940 nm laser and platelet-rich plasmahave been used in treating acne scars with variable outcomes. The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of fractional erbium-YAG 2940 nm laser and platelet-rich plasma as single line of treatment in comparison with combined treatment in atrophic postacne scars.

Methods: Seventy-five patients were included in this trial and randomized into three equal

groups (25 each). Group A was subjected to six sessions of erbium-YAG laser for 6 months, group B was treated with 12 sessions of plateletrich plasma over the same period, and group C was subjected to six sessions of erbium-YAG laser plus 12 sessions of platelet-rich plasma over the same period. Each subject was evaluated by acne scar grading, photography, and subjective evaluation.

Results: Both treatment modalities showed improvement of acne scars, but the improvement with combined treatment was better than that with erbium-YAG laser or platelet-rich plasma alone regarding scar grade improvement (P = 0.007 and 0.001), clinical improvement (P = 0.001 and 0.001), and patient satisfaction (P = 0.005 and 0.001), respectively.

Conclusions: The combination of platelet-rich plasma plus erbium-YAG laser is superior to either treatment alone for acne scars, with trivial side effects for all treatment modalities.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier; NCT03933033.