Efficacy and safety of oral isotretinoin in the treatment of moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Seborrheic dermatitis is a common, chronic, and recurrent inflammatory skin disease. There are few studies on oral isotretinoin in the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis. The aim of this research was to analyze the efficacy and safety of oral isotretinoin in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis. METHODS: This was a retrospective study. All included patients were diagnosed as moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis and treated with oral isotretinoin from January 2019 to December 2020. Symptom Scale of Seborrheic Dermatitis (SSSD) was used to evaluate the overall severity status of disease. RESULTS: A total of 48 patients with moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis were enrolled, of which 26 patients were treated with oral isotretinoin at a dose of 20 mg/day, and 22 patients were treated with oral isotretinoin at a dose of 10 mg/day. The duration of treatment was 2.42 ± 0.98 months (range: 2-6 months). The absolute SSSD values were 10.63 ± 1.02 for all 48 patients, 10.95 ± 1.15 and 10.30 ± 1.11 for patients with a dose of 20 and 10 mg/day, respectively. At the endpoint, there were no significant difference in SSSD values between the two groups (2.21 ± 0.24 vs. 2.35 ± 0.46, P = 0.18). The patients were satisfied with the two treatment schemes, and the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.78). The most common side effect was cheilitis; however, no serious adverse events occurred in either group. CONCLUSIONS: When considering efficacy and safety, oral isotretinoin can be used to treat patients with moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis.

Clinical evaluation of the treatment of open comminuted tibiofibular fractures near articulation with three dimensional external fixators / 中华创伤骨科杂志

Objective To evaluate the method, clinical effects and influential factors of using three dimensional external fixators in the treatment of severe open comminuted tibiofibular fractures 5 cm near the knee or ankle joints. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 32 cases of open comminuted tibiofibular fracture 5 cm near the knee (11 cases) or ankle joints (21 cases). They were treated with three dimensional external fixators from October 2000 to May 2005. The patients with small wounds were treated with manipulative reduction or leverage reduction through the wound under the guidance of C-arm radiography. In case of malreduction or soft tissue being tangled by the fracture ends, visible reduction was carried out after the wound was lengthened or a small incision was added. Limited internal fixation was used in case of necessity. The results were evaluated in terms of shortening of the fractured limbs, X-ray manifestation, bilateral flexion differences and postoperative walking complaints. Results Follow-ups from 5 to 18 months (nine months on average) showed that all the cases achieved osseous union. The mean union time was 5.6 months. The total excellent and good rates of fracture healing and functional recovery were 81.3% and 87.5% respectively. Conclusion Application of the three dimensional external fixator is appropriate for the treatment of severe open comminuted tibiofibular fracture 5 cm near the knee or ankle joints, because its operative procedure is simple, the injury it causes is minimal, its fixation is reliable and its complications are quite limited.