A comparative study between the efficacy of 35% glycolic acid peel and triple combination cream in the treatment of melasma

Introduction: Melasma is an acquired symmetric hypermelanosis characterized by irregular light to greyish brown macules on sun exposed skin, usually face. It is more seen in women and is more prevalent in individuals with skin type IV, V and VI. The exact etiology of melasma is not known therefore various treatment modalities have been employed. These include topical depigmenting agents like hydroquinone, azelaic acid, retinoids, chemical peels, low and high fluence lasers, yet none have proven to being fully beneficial in our study, we aim at comparing the therapeutic efficacy of 35% glycolic peel and triple combination cream in the treatment of melasma. Materials and Methods: It is a hospital based study. 60 diagnosed cases of melasma were randomly enrolled equally to two groups P and Q. Group P patients given serial 35% Glycolic acid peel and group Q patients given Triple combination cream to be applied topically once at night daily. Followed up on 4th, 8th and 12th week. At each visit clinical response to treatment was calculated using MASI score. Results: At 4th, 8th and 12th week post treatment evaluation, Triple combination cream had an overall superiority to serial 35% glycolic acid peel as a topical hypopigmenting agent. Conclusion: The results of the study show that Triple combination cream is a better hypopigmenting agent with rapid rate of clinical improvement when compared to 35% glycolic acid peel.