Influence of skin peeling procedure in allergic contact dermatitis.

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of allergic contact dermatitis in patients who have previously undergone skin peeling has been rarely studied.

OBJECTIVES

We compared the frequency of positive patch test (PT) reactions in a patient group with a history of peeling, to that of a control group with no history of peeling.

PATIENTS/

METHODS

The Korean standard series and cosmetic series were performed on a total of 262 patients. 62 patients had previously undergone peeling and 200 patients did not.

RESULTS

The frequency of positive PT reactions on Korean standard series was significantly higher in the peeling group compared with that of the control group (P < 0.05, chi-square test). However, the most commonly identified allergens were mostly cosmetic-unrelated allergens. The frequency of positive PT reactions on cosmetic series in the peeling group was higher than that of the control group, but lacked statistical significance. The frequency (%) of positive PT reactions on cosmetic series in the high-frequency peel group was higher than that of the low-frequency group, but lacked statistical significance.

CONCLUSION

It appears peeling may not generally affect the development of contact sensitization. Further work is required focusing on the large-scale prospective studies by performing a PT before and after peeling.