Efficacy of photodynamic therapy for the treatment of inflammatory acne vulgaris: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as the effective new method to treat acne vulgaris. However, no meta-analysis has been published on PDT for acne vulgaris currently.

OBJECTIVE

The current meta-analysis and systematic review were carried out to assess the safety and effect of PDT on treating acne vulgaris.

METHODS

The electronic databases, including EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and MEDLINE, were systemically retrieved to identify relevant articles for meta-analysis. The primary outcome included mean percentage reduction in the inflammatory lesion count (MPRILC), while the secondary outcome included the total effective response (TER).

RESULTS

Altogether 13 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 701 subjects had been enrolled into the current meta-analysis. PDT had certain effect on acne vulgaris in terms of the outcomes of MPRILC (MD: 15.97, 95% CI: 11.93 to 20.00, P < .00001) and TER (RR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.38-1.74, P < .00001). Totally, 6 articles had been evaluated to have a low bias risk overall. Results of sensitivity and subgroup analyses were similar to meta-analysis results, reflecting the result reliability in this meta-analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

PDT is beneficial for improving the clinical efficacy of inflammatory acne vulgaris, which can be widely used to treat inflammatory acne vulgaris in clinic.