Efficacy and safety of intense pulsed light in rosacea: A systematic review

Background: Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin characterised by facial erythema, oedema, telangiectasias, papules, pustules and nodules. There is a paucity of effective therapeutic modalities for the management of rosacea. Intense Pulsed Light (IPL), a modality in which flash lamps installed in an optical treatment device (head or tip) with mirrors to reflect light, has in recent times gained popularity in the management of this condition. Aim: This systematic review aims to evaluate the efficacy, safety and adverse effects of IPL treatment for rosacea. Methods: This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analysis. The electronic databases searched were Medline, PubMed and Scopus databases. The Risk of bias in non-randomised studies of interventions (ROBINS-I) and risk-of-bias tools for randomised trials (RoB-2) was employed to assess the risk of bias. Results: Of a total of 233 articles retrieved from Medline, Scopus and PubMed databases, 14 studies qualified for final analysis. The studies included patients with Fitzpatrick skin types I to IV, with ages ranging from 15 to 78 years. Although the included studies showed heterogeneity between the parameters used, most studies demonstrated positive effects of IPL treatment on telangiectasia and erythema in rosacea and that the adverse effects presented were transitory. Limitation: The methodological quality of the included studies was poor. Conclusion: Although most studies showed the efficacy of IPL in the treatment of rosacea, the poor quality of the studies was of concern.