Background Acne is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder of pilo-sebaceous unit that affects adolescentsbut may be extended to adulthood, especially to females.

Purpose The aim of this study is to compare the treatment efficacy of intense pulse light (IPL) +vacuum combined with hormonal pills versus pills alone for moderate comedonian and papullar-pustular female acne.

Material and methods This single-blinded randomised controlled trial included 110 females (age 18–35 years) with moderate comedonian and inflammatory endocrine acne (proven by elevated testosterone levels and hyperandrogenism), resistant to conventional treatment, into two groups: group I – 50 females treated with a combination of IPL+vacuum and pills (ethynilestradiol 0.03 mg +drospirenona 3 mg) and group II with 60 females treated only with pills for 6 months. We excluded patients under 18 years, pregnant, with photosensitivity history or with acne treatments in the previous 8 weeks. Final assessment was made by comparison of the changes in inflammatory and non-inflammatory acne lesions count and the Acne Global Severity Scale (AGSS) between the groups by the random-effects regression model. We estimated the necessary sample size for a two-sample likelihood-ratio proportion test.

Results We observed a significant reduction in the number of inflammatory lesions in both groups (p<0.001) but the treatment success rates significantly differed between the groups only for comedonian lesions (OR=5.52, p<0.001) but not for papullar-pustular lesions (OR=1.25, p=0.351). The quality of life evaluation showed a better satisfaction in patients from group I (p=0.003).

Conclusion Both methods are efficient for inflammatory lesions, but for comedonian acne we obtained better results with IPL +vacuum + pills treatment compared with pills alone.

References and/or Acknowledgements 1. Ianosi S, Ianosi G, Neagoe D, et al. Age-dependent endocrine disorders involved in the patogenesis of refractory acne in women. Mollecular Medicine Reorts2016;14(6):5501–5506.

2. Ianosi S, Neagoe D, Calbureanu M, Ianosi G. Placebo-controlled randomised compared study, blind investigator between combined vacuum and intense pulsed light versus intense pulsed light devices in both comedonian andpapullar pustulous acne. J. Cosmetic and LaserTherapy2013;15(5):248–254.

No conflict of interest