Experience of Photopneumatic Therapy in Taiwanese Acne Patients

Acne is a disease of the pilosebaceous unit affecting both teenagers and adults. The treatment of acne is sometimes frustrating due to the emergence of antibiotic resistance, skin irritation and lack of novel therapy. Light and vacuum devices, also known as photopneumatic therapy, have been shown promising as a generally well-tolerated adjunctive treatment of acne vulgaris. We conducted a clinical study using such device to assess the efficacy and safety as an adjunctive treatment of acne in Taiwanese patients. Twenty patients received six sequential treatments every one to two weeks in the facial region. A 4 × 4 cm2 area on cheek was chosen as a control area and was not treated with photopneumatic device. Safety parameters and adverse events were recorded. VISIA Complexion Analysis System was used for image analysis on the improvement of four parameters, namely, pigmentation, pore reduction, redness and porphyrin levels. There was an overall improvement in pigmentation, pore size, redness and porphyrin levels on treatment areas. The treatment areas showed statistically significant improvement (p < 0.05) in pigmentation and pore sizes compared with the control areas using paired samples T-test. Mild and self-limiting localized adverse events, mostly focal petechiae or mild irritation, were reported. Our study has demonstrated that photopneumatic therapy is an effective, safe and relatively well-tolerated procedure in Taiwanese acne patients.