A study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of microdermabrasion (MDA) combined with glycolic acid 70% (GA70%) peel versus GA70% alone in treating melasma in dark-skinned patients found that MDA safely and effectively enhanced the improvement of the peels. (Dermatologic Therapy, June 5, 2021)
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For the split-face study, Amira A. Abdel-Motaleb and Radwa M. Bakr of the department of dermatology, venereology and andrology, Assiut University Hospitals, Assiut, Egypt, treated 30 female patients (skin type IV and V) with melasma. After cleansing the face, they performed three passes of MDA on one side of the face. This was immediately followed by the application of GA70% to the whole face in one to two uniform passes.
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They used the melasma area and severity index (MASI), modified MASI and hemi-MASI scores to assess outcomes. Following treatment, all subjects had a significant decrease of the mean MASI, mMASI and both hemi-MASI scores on both sides of the face. However, the combination treatment side showed significantly greater decrease in the hemi-MASI score than the GA70%-only treated side.
