REVIEW   

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2020 February;155(1):88-98

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-0488.19.06247-3

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Photobiomodulation as potential novel third line tool for non-invasive treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa

Paola M. TRICARICO ¹, Luisa ZUPIN ¹, Giulia OTTAVIANI ^{1, 2, 3}, Katia RUPEL ^{1, 2, 3}, Fulvio CELSI ⁴, Giovanni GENOVESE ^{5, 6}, Michele BONIOTTO ^{7, 8}, Sergio CROVELLA ^{1, 4}, Angelo V. MARZANO ^{5, 6} ✉

¹ Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy; ² Division of Oral Medicine and Pathology, Dental Clinic, Maggiore Hospital, Trieste, Italy; ³ Cardiovascular Biology Laboratory, ICGEB, Padriciano, Trieste, Italy; ⁴ Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy; ⁵ Unit of Dermatology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy; ⁶ Department of Medico-Surgical and Transplantation Physiopathology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; ⁷ INSERM U955, Team 16, Créteil, France; ⁸ Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris Est Créteil, Créteil, France

Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) is a severe inflammatory pathology of the skin characterized by chronic recurrent inflamed lesions, nodules, sinus tracts and abscesses usually manifests after puberty, which involves scalp, neck, axillae, perineum and infra-mammary areas. Nowadays treatment options range from short or long courses of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and biologic drugs, to surgery. Other suggested treatments consider the employment of laser devices, mainly microsurgical lasers (such as CO2 and intense pulsed lasers) and photodynamic therapy. This review explores the potential use of photobiomodulation (PBM), already used for the treatment of other skin conditions, such as acne, hypertrophic scars, wrinkles, and burns, as potential novel therapy for HS. PBM has been reported to have beneficial effects on promoting wound healing, angiogenesis, vasodilation, and relieving from pain and inflammation, as recently demonstrated in an in-vitro model mimicking HS disease. In addition, PBM, specifically set at the blue wavelength, has been recently reported as exerting an anti-bacterial activity. Therefore, considering all these PBM features especially its ability to decrease pain and inflammation and to lead to faster wound healing, thus improving patients’ quality of life, we hypothesize its employment as adjuvant third line treatment for the management of HS both in young and adult patients.

KEY WORDS: Hidradenitis suppurativa; Wound healing; Low-level light therapy; Lasers