Phototherapy May be a Useful Adjuvant Therapy for Retractable Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria: A Systematic Review

The recent guideline on the management of urticaria recommends second-generation H1 antihistamine as the first-line therapy, with dose increases of up to fourfold and the addition of omalizumab or cyclosporine if inadequately controlled. However, the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is often disappointing. Therefore, a safe and effective treatment option is needed for refractory CSU. To evaluate whether phototherapy can relieve urticarial symptoms and serve as an additional treatment for CSU uncontrolled with antihistamine, we performed a qualitative systematic review. Our result suggests that NBUVB could be an effective complementary treatment modality to manage refractory CSU.