Efficacy and tolerability of needling as an adjuvant to narrowband ultraviolet B therapy in the treatment of vitiligo: a clinical trial

Abstract

Background: Despite great advances in therapeutic regimens,complete repigmentation in vitiligo is still out of reach. The aimof this assay was to study the efficacy and tolerability of repeatedneedling combined with narrowband ultraviolet B (NBUVB)therapy in the treatment of generalized, stable, refractory vitiligo.Method: Twenty-six patients with stable generalized intractablevitiligo were recruited in before/after clinical trial. The patientsreceived needling for selected patches weekly for 12 weeks. Allthe patients received NBUVB phototherapy three times a week.Repigmentation improvement was assessed by two blindedinvestigators at weeks 4, 8 and 12. Tolerability was assessed bya 5-point scale.Result: Twenty-two patients (16 women and 6 men) with a mean(SD) age of 34.41 (12.75) years completed the 12-week therapyperiod. In comparison with the baseline, improvement in themean percentage of repigmentation was 7.10±10.15, 12.95±20.29,and 15.57±17.38 at week 4, 8 and 12 of therapy, respectively.A significant improvement was observed in repigmentationpercentages in the three time points (p