Utilization of light-emitting diodes for skin therapy: Systematic review and meta-analysis

This study investigates the dermatological as well as the esthetic potential of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis. From the electronic databases, 554 articles were assessed; however, only 31 studies were selected after manually screening and eliminating unnecessary studies. The potential effectiveness of LEDs for skin therapies was assessed by evaluating the standardized mean differences (SMDs) and funnel plots of this meta-analysis. It was discovered that both red and blue LED lights play an important role in the treatment of acne vulgaris with an overall statistically significant SMD of -2.42 [-2.64, -2.15] and I²  = 17% < 50%. Additionally, other LEDs (e.g., yellow LEDs and near-infrared devices) showed outstanding levels of effectiveness, not only in reducing the lesions of herpes simplex and psoriasis but also in improved skin rejuvenation with highly consistent analytical results (I²  = 0% and 33%, respectively). However, the analysis of LED-based skin wound healing and atopic dermatitis treatments exhibited heterogeneity (I²  = 85% and 90%) due to the lack of unpublished articles. In conclusion, it is suggested that LEDs are useful for dermatology and could be potential candidates for future cosmetic applications.