Efficacy and safety of 308-nm Excimer lamp combined with Tacrolimus 0.1% ointment vs Tacrolimus 0.1% ointment as monotherapy in treating children with limited vitiligo: a randomized controlled trial

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics and clinical characteristics of the patients.

	Treatment
	Tacrolimus 0.1% and excimer light 308-nm (group A)		Tacrolimus 0.1% alone (group B)
Variable	N	Percent	N	Percent	Sig
Gender					0.774
male	11	44%	10	40%
female	14	56%	15	60%
Age					0.145
< 12 years	12	48%	7	28%
≥ 12 years	13	52%	18	72%
Side effects					0.11
No	21	84%	25	100%
Yes	4	16%	0	0%
Vitiligo type					0.382
General	17	68%	14	56%
Local	8	32%	11	44%
Family history					0.417
No	23	92%	20	80.00%
Yes	2	8%	5	20.00%
Duration since diagnosis					0.189
≤ 1 year	1	4%	5	20%
> 1 year	24	96%	20	80%

Figure 1. Improvement in repigmentation in group a across follow-up points.

Table 2. Efficacy of each treatment alone and the differences in the efficacy between treatment groups at first, third, and sixth months from baseline.

	Tacrolimus 0.1% and excimer light 308-nm			Tacrolimus 0.1% alone
	mean	Median	IQR	mean	Median	IQR	Sig
Improvement after 1 month	17.5	10	10–27.5	12.1	10	5–12.5	0.087
Improvement after 3 months	38.6	40	26.1–55	21.8	15	40–75	0.001
Improvement after 6 months	59.6	65	40–75	32.4	30	21.6–40	0.001
Significance of difference between 1^st and 6^th months		p = .001			p = .001

Figure 2. Excellent improvement after 3 months of treatment in group A.

Table 3. The response to treatments according to skin type.

	Treatment
	Tacrolimus 0.1% and excimer light 308-nm (group A)		Tacrolimus 0.1% alone (group B)
Variable	Median	IQR	Median	IQR	Sig
Skin type III
Improvement after 3 months	30	(27–43)	19	(15–24)	0.011
Improvement after 6 months	50	(40–83)	27	(22–38)	0.002
Skin type IV
Improvement after 1 month	10	(10–30)	5	(5–10)	0.024
Improvement after 3 months	40	(18–55)	10	(10–30)	0.002
Improvement after 6 months	68	(44–76)	29	(20–34)	0.003

Figure 3. Responses of body sites to treatment A.

Table 4. Percentages of excellent and moderate responses to treatments among patients as an overall and after categoriztion according to various body sites.

	As an overall improvement percentage	Per Body Site
		Face	Trunk	UL	LL	Hands & Feet
Excellent responses
Treatment A
improvement after 3 months	(1) 4%	4 (29%)	2 (15%)	–	–	–
improvement after 6 months	(5) 22%	5 (36%)	6 (46%)	–	4 (33%)	–
Moderate responses
Treatment A
improvement after 3 months	(6) 24%	3 (21%)	4 (31%)	1 (14%)	5 (42%)	1 (8%)
improvement after 6 months	(8) 35%	5 (36%)	3 (23%)	2 (29%)	3 (25%)	3 (25%)
Treatment B
improvement after 3 months	(2) 8%	1 (8%)	–	–	–	–
improvement after 6 months	(3) 13%	1 (8%)	1 (11%)	–	1 (11%)	–

Data availability statement

Data used in the article are available on request from the corresponding author.