中西医结合、密火针、发光二极管光疗治疗囊肿性痤疮和痤疮后遗症

Moderate-to-severe cystic acne is difficult to manage because active inflammatory lesions often coexist with a risk of persistent erythema, scarring, and acne-related quality-of-life impairment. This study evaluated an integrated traditional Chinese medicine regimen combined with mili-fire needle therapy and light-emitting diode red-blue phototherapy for short-term lesion control and post-treatment sequelae outcomes. Sixty patients with moderate-to-severe cystic acne were enrolled in a single-center, parallel-group clinical study and randomly assigned to a control group or treatment group. The control group received oral isotretinoin and red-blue light irradiation, while the treatment group received modified Zhibai Dihuang Wan combined with Erzhi Wan, mili-fire needle therapy, and the same red-blue light irradiation. Both groups used topical adapalene and received identical skin-care and lifestyle guidance. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, after three treatment courses, and after six treatment courses. A post-treatment responder follow-up cohort included only patients who achieved cure or marked improvement and therefore did not preserve the original randomized comparison. Both regimens reduced Global Acne Grading System scores, lesion counts, and Acne Disability Index scores; between-group values favored the integrated-regimen group after three and six courses. The cure-plus-marked-response proportions were 46.67% in the control group and 76.67% in the treatment group; the ordinal clinical-response distribution differed between groups, whereas adverse-event rates did not differ significantly. In the selected responder cohort, the treatment group had lower acne scar, Vancouver Scar Scale, and imaging-based erythema scores during months 1-3. The randomized short-term findings support further evaluation of the integrated regimen, while the responder-only follow-up findings should be considered exploratory and require confirmation in studies that follow the full randomized cohort.