Comparison Study Between Chemical Peeling with 70% Glycolic Acid and Intradermal Tranexamic Acid for the Treatment of Melasma

Abstract

Objective: To compare the efficacy of 70% Glycolic acid peeling with Tranexamic acid mesotherapy in treating melasma. Study Design: Quasi-experimental study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Dermatology, CMH-Abbottabad Pakistan, Jun to Nov 2021. Methodology: The 54 patients aged 20-50 years were enrolled and randomly assigned into two groups. In Group-A, 27 patients prescribed 70% Glycolic acid every two weeks for 12 weeks (6 sessions) and in Group-B, 27 patients injected every week for 12 weeks (12 sessions) with Intradermal Tranexamic acid (4mg/ml). All patients had a clinical examination using the mMASI scale. On follow-up, evaluation was carried out on the 1st, sixth, and 12th weeks. Results: The majority of 35(65%) patients had mild MASI scores. The paired t-test results of Group A and Group B were both significant, while the post-treatment mean of Group A and B was insignificant. Conclusion: The study concludes that Glycolic acid and TXA are equally efficient in treating melasma. Moreover, Tranexamic acid reduced the recurrence of melasma, but topical application of Glycolic acid showed more compliance.

Keywords

• 70% Glycolic Acid
• melisma
• mMASI (modified Melasma Area and Severity Index)
• Tranexamic acid (TXA)