A Retrospective Pragmatic Two-Center Clinical Study to Evaluate the Clinical Outcome of Triple-Frequency Ultrasound in the Treatment of Mild-to-Severe Acne Vulgaris

Objectives: Earlier, quickly alternating dual-frequency ultrasound waves (LDM technology) were successfully applied for the treatment of different inflammatory skin conditions such as rosacea and acne. In this retrospective pragmatic two-center clinical study, we applied the triple-frequency LDM (TF-LDM) technology with frequencies of 1/3/10 and 3/10/19 MHz for the treatment of mild-to-severe acne skin to assess the effectivity and sustainability of the treatment outcomes.

Methods: Twenty-two patients with mild-to-severe acne were included in this study: 11 patients were treated with TF-LDM (1/3/10 MHz), and other 11 patients-with TF-LDM (3/10/19 MHz). Assessment of the acne severity was done using the bilateral facial photographs. The photos were evaluated at baseline (T1), on the day of the last treatment (T2), and during the follow-up controls (T3). Assessment of the acne severity was provided in accordance with a modified Global Evaluation Acne (mGEA) scale by nine independent dermatologists who were blinded to treatment assignments.

Results: The average improvement of the mGEA scoring between T1 and T2 across all patients was 73.69% ± 13.90% (p < 0.01), whereas the skin improvement between T1 and T3 was 90.14% ± 8.35% (p < 0.01). The state of the skin was also statistically significantly improved between T2 and T3 (53.26% ± 29.24%, p < 0.02). There was no difference in treatment outcomes between the patients treated with TF-LDM (1/3/10 MHz) and TF-LDM (3/10/19 MHz).

Conclusions: TF-LDM is an effective method for the treatment of the mild-to-severe acne skin that provides a significant skin improvement and long-lasting treatment results. The method demonstrates no significant side effects, is pain-free, well tolerated, and highly accepted by patients.