Abstract
BACKGROUND: To perform a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of treating vitiligo on the trunk with CO2 fractional laser and 308 nm excimer light. METHODS: Searches were conducted in the databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, and 308 nm excimer light in combination with CO2 fractional laser for the treatment of vitiligo at the trunk part. The included studies were subjected to meta-analysis using the Cochrane systematic review methodology, and Revman software was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: There were 10 total documents, 8 of which were recent (5 years) publications. There were 996 clients with vitiligo included in total, 500 in the research team and 596 in the control team. The fixed effect model was employed for statistical analysis after the homogeneity test (P = .28, I2 = 0%) revealed that there was no heterogeneity among the 10 trials that provided the overall effective rate. According to the findings of a meta-analysis, 308 nm excimer light combined with CO2 fractional laser treatment had a statistically significant overall effective rate that was higher than 308 nm excimer light alone (OR = 1.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.26-1.44, P < .01). The fixed effect model was adopted for statistical analysis because 10 trials indicated a significantly higher effective rate and the homogeneity test (P = .26, I2 = 7%) revealed that there was no heterogeneity. According to the findings of a meta-analysis, 308 nm excimer light combined with CO2 fractional laser treatment had a notably greater rate of effectiveness than 308 nm excimer light alone, and the difference was statistically significant (OR = 2.71, 95% confidence interval: 2.39-3.08, P < .01). A fixed effect model was utilized for statistical analysis after the homogeneity test (P = .13, I2 = 47%) revealed that there was no heterogeneity in the data from the 7 studies that reported the incidence of adverse events. CONCLUSION: Treatment of vitiligo on the trunk using 308 nm excimer light and CO2 fractional laser shows considerable curative results and a low rate of adverse responses, making it suitable for clinical use.