Photobiomodulation Therapy: A New Light in the Treatment of Systemic Sclerosis Skin Ulcers

INTRODUCTION: Skin ulcers (SU) represent one of the most frequent manifestations of systemic sclerosis (SSc), occurring in almost 50% of scleroderma patients. SSc-SU are often particularly difficult to treat with conventional systemic and local therapies. In this study, a preliminary evaluation of the role and effectiveness of blue light photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy with EmoLED(®) in the treatment of scleroderma skin ulcers (SSc-SU) was performed. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 12 consecutive SSc patients with a total of 15 SU on finger hands. All patients were treated with adequate systemic therapy and local treatment for SU; after a standard skin ulcer bed preparation with debridement of all lesions, EmoLED(®) was performed. All patients were locally treated every week during 2 months of follow-up; SU data were collected after 4 weeks (T4) and 8 weeks (T8). Eight SSc patients with comparable SU were also evaluated as controls. RESULTS: The application of EmoLED(®) in addition to debridement apparently produced faster healing of SU. Complete healing of SU was recorded in 41.6% cases during EmoLED(®) treatment. Significant improvements in SU area, length, and width, wound bed, and related pain were observed in EmoLED(®) patients from T0 to T8. Control subjects treated with standard systemic/local therapies merely showed an amelioration of SU area and width at the end of the follow-up. No procedural or post-procedural adverse events were reported. CONCLUSIONS: The positive clinical results and the absence of side effects suggest that EmoLED(®) could be a promising tool in the management of SSc-SU, with an interesting role to play in the healing process in addition to conventional systemic and local treatments.