Efficacy and safety of radio frequency in acne and freckles in a tertiary care centre

Abstract

Context: Acne has become one of the most commonly treated skin conditions by a
practicing dermatologists accounting for approximately 80% cases. While freckles is
common among Fitzpatrick skin type 1-3, acne can occur in all skin types. RF
(radiofrequency) is slowly gaining popularity in treating both the conditions
especially the monopolar non ablative ones.
Aim: To find the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency in acne as well as freckles.
Setting and Design: It is a randomized controlled trial with split face study.
Material & Methods: 25 patients in each group were enrolled for the split face
study. In both acne & freckles group lesions on half of the face had undergone RF
treatment and rest half treated with topical tretinoin MS 0.04% in acne patients once
application at night & 20% TCA in freckles group.
Result: While 85% patients in acne group had shown excellent response, in freckles
group excellent response was seen in 77.78% patients and rest 15% in group A &
22.22% in group F had shown modest response.
Conclusion: From this study it can be concluded that RF is a safe and faster
treatment modality for both acne and freckles thereby avoiding the systemic side
effects of oral agents in acne and lesser chances of recurrence in both groups of
patients.