Laser and intense pulsed light in the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa.

Treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) requires a combination of medical, surgical, and lifestyle interventions. Intense pulsed light (IPL) and lasers have been reported to be useful. The aim of this review is to find the evidence supporting IPL and laser treatment of HS and to provide guidance for the management of specific HS lesions. We searched PubMed and Web of Science for "laser" and "hidradenitis suppurativa" on April 6, 2022. Inclusion criteria were >10 patients, reported follow-up, English language, and human subjects with a diagnosis of HS. A total of 724 articles were screened, but only 17 studies qualified for inclusion (IPL (n = 4), Nd:YAG (n = 6), CO ₂ laser (n = 6), and intralesional treatment (n = 2). The majority of the studies had a low (n = 10) or moderate (n = 7) evidence level. Treatment effect was noticed in studies using IPL and Nd:YAG (hair reduction). CO ₂ laser was used for surgery with a success rate ranging from 70.7% to 96.7%. CO ₂ laser is useful for surgery of stationary HS lesions, but it is difficult to draw a conclusion on the use of IPL and Nd:YAG (hair reduction) as the studies were too heterogeneous to perform a meta-analysis.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Zealand University Hospital is a member of the European Reference Network on Rare and Undiagnosed Skin Disorders and the European Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation. DML Saunte received honoraria as a consultant for advisory board meetings by AbbVie, Janssen, Sanofi, Leo Pharma, Novartis, UCB and as a speaker and/or received grants from the following companies: Abbvie, Janssen, Novartis, Sanofi, Jamjoom Pharma and Leo Pharma during the last three years. She is a primary investigator for Moberg. GBE Jemec has received honoraria from AbbVie, Chemocentryx, Coloplast, Incyte, Inflarx, Novartis, Pierre Fabre and UCB for participation on advisory boards, and grants from Abbvie, Astra-Zeneca, Inflarx, Janssen-Cilag, Leo Pharma, Novartis, Regeneron and Sanofi, for participation as an investigator, and received speaker honoraria from AbbVie, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Galderma and MSD. He has also received unrestricted departmental grants from Abbvie, Leo Pharma and Novartis.
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