For patients with melasma, tranexamic acid (TXA) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are an effective and safe treatment, according to a study published online April 22 in Dermatologic Therapy .

Nitin Krishna Patil, M.D., and Aditya Kumar Bubna, M.B.B.S., from Katihar Medical College in India, compared the therapeutic efficacy and safety of TXA and PRP microinjections for patients with melasma. Forty patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to one of two groups who received either intradermal microinjections of TXA (4 mg/mL) or intradermal microinjections of PRP, once every four weeks for a total of five sessions (Groups A and B, respectively). Improvement in melasma was evaluated using the melasma area severity index (MASI) and modified MASI (mMASI) scoring systems at each visit.

Eighteen patients in group A and 15 in Group B completed the study. The researchers found that both MASI and mMASI scores were significantly reduced from baseline to end point in Group A (16.6 ± 9.227 to 10.028 ± 8.07 and 8.885 ± 5.418 to 4.639 ± 3.863, respectively). In Group B, similar significant reductions were seen in both scores at the end of treatment (20.42 ± 7.979 to 12.253 ± 7.37 for MASI and 10.673 ± 4.642 to 5.613 ± 3.98 for mMASI). During the entire duration of the study, there were no significant adverse effects reported in either treatment arm.

"Although the improvement witnessed was slightly higher in the PRP group, based on our findings we cannot vehemently state that it is a far more superior form of treatment when compared to intralesional TXA," the authors write.

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