Subcision and Microneedling as an Inexpensive and Safe Combination to Treat Atrophic Acne Scars in Dark Skin: A Prospective Study of 45 Patients at a Tertiary Care Center

摘要

>Background: Acne scars are the most common sequele of the inflammatory process of acne and affects almost 95 percent of the patients with acne vulgaris. Hypertrophic scars and keloid scars result from excessive tissue formation; atrophic scars are characterized by loss or damage of tissue, which are further categorized into ice pick, rolling, and boxcar scars. >Method: A total of 45 patients underwent four sessions, four weeks apart, of subcision and microneedling and were assessed for scar grading three months after the final treatment session. >Results: Overall improvement was seen in 95.6 percent of patients (improvement by at least 1 grade) with slight erythema, edema and pain for 1 to 2 days. The improvement correlated with the patient-reported assessment of improvement in scars; 17.8 percent of patients perceived a 75- to 100-percent improvement in their acne scars, while 24.4 percent of patients perceived an improvement of 50 to 74 percent. The majority of the patients (55.5%) perceived an improvement of 25 to 49 percent in their scars. >Conclusion: Rolling and boxcar scars show more improvement compared to ice-pick scars. This combination is well tolerated in Fitzpatrick Skin Types III, IV and V, with no failure rates. We observed a high level of patient satisfaction and minimal downtime.