Excimer laser for the treatment of psoriasis: safety, efficacy, and patient acceptability

Abstract

IntroductionThe 308 nm excimer laser is a widely used device throughout the field of dermatology for many diseases including psoriasis. Although the laser has demonstrated clinical efficacy, there is a lack of literature outlining the safety, efficacy, and patient acceptability of the excimer laser.MethodsA literature search on PubMed was used with combinations of the terms “excimer”, “excimer laser”, “308 nm”, “psoriasis”, “protocol”, “safety”, “efficacy”, acceptability”, “side effects”, and “dose”. The search results were included if they contained information pertaining to excimer laser and psoriasis treatment and description of the safety, efficacy, and patient acceptability of the treatment.ResultsThe 308 nm excimer laser is generally safe and well tolerated with minimal side effects including erythema, blistering, and pigmentary changes. It has a range of efficacies depending on the protocol used with several different treatment protocols, including the induration protocol, the minimal erythema dose protocol, and the newer minimal blistering dose protocol.ConclusionAlthough the excimer laser is not a first-line treatment, it remains an excellent treatment option for psoriasis patients and has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment with little to no side effects.

Excimer laser for psoriasis treatment: A case report and short review

“…Difficult to treat areas can be easily accessed using the laser therapy such as nose, ears and palpebral region that are hard to treat using conventional phototherapy. Other differences between phototherapy and excimer laser consists of lower UV exposer, decreased period of time of the treatment and the possibility to focus on the lesional skin, avoiding unaffected areas (11)(12)(13).…”

Pitiriasis rubra pilaris tratada con lámpara excímero

“…16 Entre las ventajas que ofrece la lámpara excímero como tratamiento están que su uso es seguro y presenta buena tolerancia, pudiendo manifestar mínimos efectos locales como eritema, abrasión, y cambios pigmentarios en el sitio de aplicación. 12 El paciente recibió terapia con lámpara excímero monocromático, con una longitud de onda de 308nm, 16 en un protocolo de sesiones establecidas según su tipo de piel; recibiendo de forma fraccionada, diez sesiones semanalmente. Se inició con 18 segundos equivalentes a 0,9 J /cm2, con un aumento gradual de 1 segundo cada sesión (0,05J/cm2 por sesión) hasta llegar a los 27 segundos con una dosis final de 1,35 J/cm2.…”

Scar Revisions

“…The excimer laser has a wavelength close to traditional narrow-band UVB light and is effective in the treatment of hypopigmentation, in addition to psoriasis and vitiligo. 18,19 Dermatography, or medical tattooing, may be used as a final alternative when other modalities fail to improve cosmesis. 20…”