Comparison of the efficiency of the laser ablation of biological tissue with the use of a repetitively pulsed CO2-laser with transverse discharge and a continuous CO2-laser with modulated output radiation is carried out. It is shown that the ablation efficiency is higher for the repetitively pulsed laser with a pulse duration of 20 .s and a pulse power of more than 2 kW, and the radiation from the cw laser with the power of 50 W and pulse duration of 500 .s results in much greater thermal damage to the tissue surrounding the impact zone. The first clinical application of the repetitively pulsed CO2-laser in dermatology and plastic reconstructive and restorative surgery has shown its clinical and aesthetic performance and identified key long-term direction of its further use for surgery.