Atrophic facial acne scars; bilateral comparison of two microneedle devices

Microneedling is a minimally invasive procedure using fine needles to puncture the skin.The aim of this study is to compare the clinical efficacy as well as the histological effects of dermaroller versus dermapen in the management of post-acne atrophic scars.The study was conducted on 10 patients with post-acne atrophic scars. A split-face study design was performed for 6 sessions 2 weeks apart. Dermaroller was used for the right side, while dermapen was used for microneedling of the left side of the face with 2.5 mm long needles for both sides. Biopsy was taken from both sides before and at 2 weeks after last session. Each biopsy was stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin, Orcein, and Masson trichrome stains. There was significant improvement (p < .05) on both sides of the face when comparing after treatment to baseline. In spite of better clinical improvement observed on the dermaroller-treated side, however a non-significant difference was observed between both sides of the face (p = .618). Meanwhile, there was a better improvement on boxcar and rolling scars than that on icepick scars. In conclusion, microneedling showed significant clinical and histological improvement in the management of atrophic post-acne scars with no significant difference between using dermaroller or dermapen. The dermaroller session is more rapid as it covers a larger skin surface area, but with more pain and bleeding during the session than dermapen, and post-session erythema and edema are slightly more apparent after dermaroller.