Waibel JS, et al. - In this study, researchers challenge the currently accepted treatment parameters of waiting 1 year following burn injury to treat the resultant scarring. They investigated how the treatment of burn and trauma wounds at less than 3 months of injury affects scar formation, providing a new temporal paradigm to patients in the prevention and minimization of scar formation. They conducted a randomized clinical trial including 19 patients with moderate-to-severe acute burn injuries less than 3 months from injury. Three fractional ablative CO₂ laser treatments were administered to the treatment areas at 8-week intervals. Outcomes revealed significant reduction in scar formation in correlation with early intervention with ablative fractional laser on acute traumatic wounds compared with untreated areas on the same wounds. This provides an impactful new time course to treat severe burn and trauma injuries.