Vol. 39 No. 05

In 2005, a 22-year old student in South Carolina died from a fatal dose of lidocaine after she was given a topical anaesthetic gel by a spa employee and told to apply it from her groin to her ankle and cover it in plastic in preparation for hair removal treatment on her leg.

An age-specific evaluation of patients with pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) may allow for the development of focused algorithms for prioritizing assessment based on age, according to a cohort study of 356 cases of PG in JAMA Dermatology.

Aesthetic practices that provide laser and light-based therapies should be cognizant of legal issues that may affect the practice. “Legal issues arise in all facets of medicine. However, in cosmetics, the patient’s expectation of outcomes is often in conflict with that of the clinician. There is a heightened potential for patient dissatisfaction that can ultimately lead to legal action,” says Dr. Mathew Avram.

The long-held belief that combining lasers with fillers could destabilize or damage fillers has largely been debunked. You can safely use both together, say physicians reporting at this year's ASLMS meeting. In this article, dermatologists cover how best to apply energy-based devices with cosmetic injectables safely and effectively.