P10.144 COMBINED TREATMENT WITH LASER AND TOPICAL EFLORNITHINE IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN LASER TREATMENT ALONE FOR REMOVING UNWANTED FACIAL HAIR-- A PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL

Eileen Tan, Iltefat Hamzavi, Jerry Shapiro, Harvey Lui

Division of Dermatology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Background and Objectives: Topical eflornithine and pulsed lasers remove unwanted hair by different mechanisms. The objective of this study was to determine whether combined treatment with eflornithine and a pulsed infrared laser would induce greater hair reduction than laser treatment alone.

Materials and Methods: This was a placebo controlled, double-blind, right-left bilateral study involving female patients undergoing up to six monthly laser hair removal sessions to the entire upper lip with a 755 nm, long-pulse (10 – 40 msec) alexandrite laser. Throughout the study period, each patient was randomly assigned to apply topical eflornithine 13.9% cream to one side of the upper lip, and a placebo vehicle cream to the contralateral side twice daily. The degree of hair removal for each side of the lip was assessed monthly on a semiquantitative; four point ordinal scale by a physician investigator.

Results: 33 patients were enrolled in the study and 31 completed all the required laser visits. Two patients were lost to follow up and one dropped out due to hyperpigmentation following treatment with the laser. More rapid hair reduction was observed with combined laser-eflornithine treated side. Eighty percent or more hair reduction was achieved two treatment cycles faster compared to laser only treatment side. For the laser only treatment sides, complete or almost complete hair removal was achieved in 61.3% (19/31), as compared to 93.5% (29/31) for laser combined with eflornithine.

Conclusions: Hair removal with combined eflornithine and laser is superior to laser alone for removing unwanted facial hair.