Brightening Cream and Lasers in Post-sclerotherapy Hyperpigmentation

The treatment of leg veins and varicosis with sclerotherapy is one of the most frequently performed medical intervention in the western world. The most common local side effects of this treatment are hyperpigmentations caused by hemosiderin deposition in the skin as well as post inflammatory hyperpigmentation.

Although skin hyperpigmentation after sclerotherapy is a common over several months up to years lasting side-effect with a strong aesthetic impact, scanty data exist about treatment options.

Quality-Switched (QS) lasers are efficient in the removal of exogenous and endogenous pigments, such as tattoos as well as epidermal and dermal melanin deposits. The laser light is absorbed by pigment particles, leading to a fragmentation of these particles by a photothermal and photoacoustic effect. Smaller particles can be then phagocyted by macrophages, and transported via the lymphatic system into the lymph nodes. Furthermore, the positive effect of QS lasers in the management of cutaneous siderosis in stasis dermatitis and after sclerotherapy has been described in several cases.

Triple cream including hydroquinone, tretinoin and a topical corticosteroid (eg dexamethasone), is the first line therapy in the treatment of post inflammatory hyperpigmentation.

This randomized controlled study aims to evaluate the efficiency of two well-known depigmentation methods (QS laser and triple cream) for treatment of post sclerotherapy hyperpigmentation, compared with a control group performing no treatment.