Comparison between beta hydroxy acid chemical peel and intense pulsed light in the treatment of facial acne vulgaris in Asian patients

Background: Although acne is not physically disabling, there is significant demand for effective acne therapies. Chemical peeling is the most widely used procedure in the management of acne and acne scars, but there are very few studies on it. Salicylic acid is beta- hydroxy acid that is an excellent keratolytic agent. Light and lasers appear to reduce inflammatory acne lesions by targeting some of the main pathophysiologic factors. We compared the efficacy of Intense Pulse Light and beta hydroxy peel in treatment of facial acne vulgaris. Materials and Method: It is a prospective comparative study with convenient sampling done. Twenty patients with facial acne were included in the study. Clinical photograph and grading of acne using Michelson's acne severity index was done. One half of the face was subjected to monotherapy with IPL and patient was started with 1 J less than the most tolerable dose. Fluence increased by 1 J every session. 530 nm filter was used. 30% salicylic acid peel was applied on the other half of face. This procedure was done every 2 weeks for a total of six sessions. Paired t-test was done. IBM SPSS statistics software version 2015 used. Results: Intense pulse light treated side showed 54.4% reduction in acne severity score whereas chemical peeling treated side showed 34.4% reduction. Intense pulse light treated side showed statistically significant improvement. (SD- 3.743, t-value =4.632). Conclusion: Intense pulse light as a monotherapy showed better results than chemical peeling. Salicylic acid peel has better effect on post-acne hyperpigmentation compared to intense pulse light.