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Updated: Oct 5, 2026
The Goeckerman Regimen for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Psoriasis
Published on: July 11, 2013
Saline spa water or combined water and UV-B for psoriasis vs conventional UV-B: lessons from the Salies de Béarn
C Léauté-Labrèze1, F Saillour, G Chêne
1Service de Dermatologie, Hôpital Saint André, 1 rue Jean Burguet, 33075 Bordeaux CEDEX, France.
Objective:
To study the effects of UV-B therapy and saline spa water given alone or in combination for the treatment of psoriasis.
Design:
Randomized, controlled, comparative study with blinded observers.
Setting:
Salies de Béarn, saline spa water center located in the southwest of France.
Participants:
Seventy-one adult patients with psoriasis with a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score greater than 10.
Intervention:
Patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: spa water alone (group A); UV-B 311-nm phototherapy alone (group B); and a combination of the 2 therapies (group C). The 3 groups were treated on a daily basis 5 days a week for a total of 21 days.
Main Outcome Measures:
Change in PASI score from baseline as determined by an investigator blinded to randomization; variation in quality of life, adverse effects, and long-term effects (1 year after treatment).
Results:
Four patients dropped out because of secondary effects. Efficacy was similar in groups B and C, with changes in PASI of -64% and -55%, respectively at 3 weeks. For group A, change in PASI was -29%, thus showing a minor therapeutic effect of saline spa water alone and poor efficacy compared with groups B and C (P<.001). More adverse effects were reported in groups A and C but did not reach significance. Combined saline spa water and UV-B therapy had no sparing effect on UV-B dosages. One year after treatment, no long-term benefit could be attributed specifically to a given regimen, but the patients had overall significantly better PASI scores than at baseline.
Conclusions:
Saline spa water alone had a minor therapeutic effect in psoriasis, and the beneficial effect of bathing to enhance phototherapy was not demonstrated.
