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Efficacy of Alpha and Beta Hydroxy Acid Chemical Peels in Post-Acne Pigmentation: A Double-Blinded, Randomized, Controlled Trial

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eMediNexus    22 July 2022

Acne is an often-encountered dermatological problem. Among the different treatment modalities for acne and post-acne pigmentation, chemical peeling remains a promising as well as an emerging treatment modality. 

Despite the availability of various peeling agents, there remains a lack of research comparing their efficacy. Additionally, only a few studies have compared the efficacy of combined peels in the South Indian population. A recent study compared the efficacy of alpha and beta hydroxy acid peels in the treatment of post-acne pigmentation.

Forty patients with post-acne pigmentation were randomized into one of the 2 treatment groups based on the block randomization technique with block size 4. Patients of the glycolic acid (GA) peel group were treated with 50% GA and the salicylic acid (SA) peel group was treated with 30% SA. All the patients underwent procedures every 2 weeks for 6 weeks and the primary outcome was evaluated every 2 weeks. The assessment with photographic documentation was accomplished by a blinded evaluator from dermatology.

The mean age of the study population was described to be 21 ± 2.29 years. Among 40 enrolled patients, 24 were females while 16 were males. GA and SA peel groups demonstrated marked improvement from the first follow-up ahead in the study. Yet, GA peel showed a higher percentage of post-acne pigmentation decline than SA peel in all four follow-ups. GA peel group demonstrated >75% reduction in post-acne pigmentation in 45% of the patients. While in the SA peel group, no patients achieved >75% reduction of post-acne pigmentation. Pairwise comparisons between both groups were noteworthy.

These results indicated the superior effectiveness of GA peel over SA peel in improving post-acne pigmentation.

Source: J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2022;15(1):48-52. 

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