NB-UVB Phototherapy Combined with Tacrolimus Ointment in Vitiligo Treatment

Background: Vitiligo, often referred to as a common and chronic disorder in which the skin loses its pigment or melanocyte-generating cells, causing hypopigmentation or depigmentation of affected area skin. Various treatment modalities such as topical, systemic and phototherapy are employed to treat this disease.

Objective: Vitiligo is often treated with phototherapy that utilizes narrowband ultraviolet B (NB–UVB). This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of combination therapy of NB–UVB phototherapy and tacrolimus in vitiligo treatment.

Methods: Minimal Erythema Dose (MED) was not calculated & an initial dose of 300 mj/cm2 was started in all adult patients & 150 mj/cm2 in children. Treatment was administered 2 times in a week on non-consecutive days. A retrospective questionnaire-based study was conducted for seven months (August 2019 to February 2020). About 95 patients with vitiligo in Dhaka were taken for observation. Microsoft Office Excel 2010 software was used to do the analysis.

Results: In this study, 34.37% of patients were male, and on the other side, about 65.63% of patients were female. And most of the patients were young aged (21-30). In this case, females are mostly conscious of their skin health. One hundred forty lesions were treated on the face, extremities, and trunk. Excellent results were achieved in 66.43% (93/140) lesions, while 20.71% (29/140) lesions exhibited a good response. The response was termed poor as the extent of pigmentation achieved was less than 12.86% (18/140).

Conclusion: In this study, we found that the combination of NB-UVB phototherapy and tacrolimus is potentially effective in vitiligo, with the face and extremities (proximal part) responding better than other body sites.