comparison between intralesional triamcinolone and kligman's formula in treatment of melasma

melasma is a common acquired skin disorder. while different treatments are currently being used, in many cases it is refractory to treatment. according to the effects of topical steroids in decreasing skin pigmentation, we studied the efficacy of this new method for treatment of melasma. a total of 42 women with facial melasma, admitted to the department of dermatology of hamadan, were enrolled in the study. they were divided randomly into two groups (a and b), group a (case) received subepidermal triamcinolone injections with a dose of 4mg per cc and 5mm  intervals until complete blanching of melasma lesions, and group b (control) received kligman's formula (hydroquinone5%, tretinoin 0.1%, and dexamethasone 0.1%). at the first visit, we completed the masi score papers, and we repeated that at weeks 4 and 8 of the study. we followed them for two months, every two weeks. at each visit, side effects and clinical response to treatment were noted. a decrease in masi was observed in both group (11.57 ± 4.33 vs 9.31 ± 3.75 at 4th week and vs 8.01 ± 3.1 at 8th week, p- value < 0.001 in group a, and 10.46 ± 5.61 vs 9.76 ± 5.21 at 4th week and vs 8.96 ± 4.96 at 8th week, p -value< 0.001 in group b). in comparison between 2 groups, response to treatment was much better in group a than group b ( p -value<0.001). in comparison to topical treatments, based on these findings, triamcinolone microinjection is a new, safe and strong therapeutic method for treatment of melasma.