Background: Melasma is a common, acquired pigmentary disorder among Asians that occurs in sun-exposed areas mostly involving the face predominantly the malar areas of cheek. Though the exact etiology is not known various factors have been implicated in the etiopathogenesis.

Aim and Objective: To assess the therapeutic efficacy and safety of intradermal tranexamic acid microinjections.

Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of 50 consecutive patients with melasma was done who received 3 doses (at 0, 4 and 8 weeks) of tranexamic acid intradermal microinjections every 4 weeks. Improvement was accessed by Melasma Assessment Severity Index (MASI) score at the end of 4, 8 and 12 weeks of starting the treatment.

Results: A total of 5o patients were retrospectively analysed. Among these 41 patients who completed the study 37 (90%) were females and 4 (9.7%) were males in age group of 18 -55 years. All 41 patients showed significant decrease in mean MASI score with intradermal infiltration of TXA microinjections at week 4, 8 and 12 when compared with baseline MASI scores that are from 11.29±6.07 to 2.37±1.75. Transient oedema and pain at the injection site were the only reported adverse effects.

Conclusion: In our study, Intradermal TXA microinjections were found effective and safe in the treatment of melasma with a significant reduction in MASI score.

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Himang Jharaik

Obstetrics Dept., Civil Hospital Theog, District Shimla 171201, Himachal Pradesh, India