Periorbital dark circles (PDC) are an everyday cosmetic issue. Various available treatment options render only a moderate degree of improvement. The present study resembled the clinical efficacy of carboxytherapy with fractional CO2 laser therapy for managing PDC.

This split-face study recruited 30 patients with bilateral PDC aged between 23 and 52 years to undergo carboxytherapy (n = 30) on one side of the face and fractional CO2 laser therapy (n = 30) on the other side. The entire treatment contained four sessions of each therapy with an interval of 14 days. The assessment included both subjective methods (patients satisfaction and physicians judgment) and objective methods (based on digital standard photographs). The study assessed the degree of improvement from the patients point of view (patient satisfaction) and physicians (physician satisfaction) in different therapy sessions compared with the improvement after the first session.

The study observed:

•    Inclusion of 30 individuals with a mean age of 38.22 ± 8.3 years. •    45 ± 12.3 months as the mean disease duration.•    Remarkably better patients satisfaction in the fractional CO2 laser therapy group than in the carboxytherapy group after the second therapy session.•    Higher improvement rate after the second and sixth weeks in the fractional CO2 laser therapy group than in the carboxytherapy group, while no significant differences in other sessions.•    No significant side effects in either group post-treatment each time.

This study shows that fractional CO2 laser therapy is superior to carboxytherapy in treating PDC with similar mild side effects (including erythema, pain and discomfort) between the two groups.

Source: Zaheri H, Beyzaee AM, Rokni GR, Patil A, Golpour M, Goldust M. Comparison of the efficacy of carboxytherapy versus fractional CO2 laser therapy for the treatment of periorbital dark circles: a randomized clinical trial. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2023;22(2):512-6.