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

Background: Despite great advances in therapeutic regimens, complete repigmentation in vitiligo is still out of reach. The aim of this assay was to study the efficacy and tolerability of repeated needling combined with narrowband ultraviolet B (NBUVB) therapy in the treatment of generalized, stable, refractory vitiligo. Method: Twenty-six patients with stable generalized intractable vitiligo were recruited in before/after clinical trial. The patients received needling for selected patches weekly for 12 weeks. All the patients received NBUVB phototherapy three times a week. Repigmentation improvement was assessed by two blinded investigators at weeks 4, 8 and 12. Tolerability was assessed by a 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 therapy period. In comparison with the baseline, improvement in the mean 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 repigmentation percentages in the three time points (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Although our patients showed repigmentation improvement, the overall repigmentation was very low (about 15.57 %); therefore, we do not recommend needling as an alternative to other available surgery procedures that have more favorable efficacy and tolerability in contrast to this new procedure.