ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Despite advances in surgical management of vitiligo, lesions on acral areas and bony prominences remain treatment refractory. There is lack of literature on the treatment efficacy of various surgical modalities over these treatment refractory sites. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of three common methods of grafting in vitiligo in known resistant areas. METHODS: A single-center interventional clinical trial involving 30 patients of stable vitiligo (disease stability ≥1 year) located over bony prominences and acral areas. All patients were treated with noncultured epidermal cell suspension (NCES), suction blister epidermal grafting (SBEG), and mini punch grafting (MPG) on three separate patches. Extent of repigmentation was assessed at 12 and 24 weeks, color matching and patient satisfaction were evaluated at 24 weeks. RESULTS: Among 30 participants, 22 (73%) were females, mean age was 27.4 (±10.7) years, and the majority (93.3%) had nonsegmental vitiligo. At 12 weeks, repigmentation >75% was noted in 56.6, 60, and 16.6% of patches treated by NCES, SBEG, and MPG, respectively. At 24 weeks, results remained the same in both the NCES and SBEG groups, while the number of patches with >75% repigmentation increased to 23.3% in the MPG group. The difference in repigmentation rate between NCES and MPG as well as between SBEG and MPG achieved statistical significance. Color matching of treated area and patient satisfaction were better in NCES and SBEG groups compared to MPG. CONCLUSION: NCES and SBEG are superior to MPG with reasonably good efficacy and can be offered as a therapeutic modality for stable vitiligo patches over these sites.
