Efficacy of Alpha and Beta Hydroxy Acid Chemical Peels in Postacne Pigmentation: A Double Blinded, Randomized,...

Acne is one of the most commonly faced dermatological complaints in our day-to-day practice. Among the various treatment modalities for acne and postacne pigmentation, chemical peeling is a promising and emerging treatment modality. Although various peeling agents are available, there is a lack of research comparing their efficacy. In addition, only a few studies have compared the efficacy of combined peels in the South Indian population. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of alpha and beta hydroxy acid peels in the treatment of postacne pigmentation.

Forty patients with postacne pigmentation were divided into two groups of 20 patients each. Patients were randomized into one of the two treatment groups consecutively based on block randomization technique with block size 4. Patients of GA peel group was treated with 50% glycolic acid (GA) and the salicylic acid (SA) peel group was treated with 30% salicylic acid. The procedure was repeated every two weeks up to six weeks and the primary outcome was assessed every two weeks. The assessment with photographic documentation was done by a blinded evaluator from our department of dermatology.

The mean age of the study population was 21±2.29 years. Out of 40 patients, 24 were females and 16 were males. GA and SA peel groups showed significant improvement from first follow-up onwards in the study. However, GA peel showed higher percentage of postacne pigmentation reduction than SA peel in all the four follow-ups. In GA peel group, >75% reduction in postacne pigmentation was observed in 45 percent of the patients. Whereas in the SA peel group, none of the patients achieved >75% reduction of postacne pigmentation. Pairwise comparison between both groups were statistically significant (P<0.0001).

Our results suggest that the GA peel was more effective than SA peel in improving postacne pigmentation.