Kashif Kamal, Muhammad Majid Paracha, Nauman Idrees, Rabeeka Bakhtiar, Irfan Ullah, Muhammad Nadeem.
Effectiveness of Triple Combination Cream and 30% Glycolic Acid Peel Versus Triple Combination Cream alone in the Treating Epidermal Melasma.
Med Forum Jan ;31(3):13-6.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of 30% glycolic acid peel and triple combination cream (Hydroquinone, Tretinoin and Topical Steroids) versus triple combination cream in the treatment/therapy of epidermalmelasma. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Dermatology Unit Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar from March 2016 to September 2016. Materials and Methods: Total 178 patients having epidermal melasma were allocated at random into two equivalent groups by lottery process. Melasma was diagnosed with woods lamp examination and clinically and also having MASI score >12.Group A patients were treated with to 30% glycolic acid peel and triple combination cream. Group B Patients were treated with triple combination cream alone. Results were assessed after 4 weeks by calculating the MASI score. Chi square test of statistics was employed to compare the efficacy in two groups and pvalue < 0.05 was considered for significance of parameters. Results: Group A had 20 (22.47%) male and 69 (77.53%) female patients. On the other hand, group B had 15 (16.85%) males and 74 (83.15%) female patients. Group A had 34(38.32%) patients of <26 years, 47(52.81%) of 26-40 years and 8(8.98%) above 40 years. Group B had 23(25.85%) patients of less than 26 years,53(53.56%) of 26- 40 years and 13(14.61%) above 40 years. In group A, 84(94.38%) patients and in group B 71(79.77%) patients showed significant improvement. Conclusion: This study shows that treatment with 30% Glycolic acid peel and Triple combination cream is more efficient than triple combination cream therapy alone.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com