Recently, the American Academy of Dermatology and the National Psoriasis Foundation released guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis with phototherapy. Over the last few weeks, we’ve examined the recommendations in depth.
Week 1: Treating with Narrow Band UVB
Week 3: Combination Therapy with Narrow Band UVB
Week 4: Risks of Narrow Band UVB
Week 5: Broadband UVB Overview, Risks & Recommendations
Week 6: PUVA Overview, Risks & Recommendations
In this final post, we’ll look back to summarize the findings and consider how this might impact your patients and practice.
Used to treat many types of psoriasis, this method is very safe and effective. It can be used to treat patients in the clinic or at home with few potential adverse side effects. When treating severe psoriasis, NB-UVB can be used in combination with topical, systemic and biologics to increase efficacy and speed clearance.
This older form of light therapy is not used as widely as NB-UVB and is viewed as not quite as effective. NB-UVB is recommended over BB-UVB monotherapy for adults with generalized plaque psoriasis.
Although PUVA monotherapy is viewed as more effective treatment, Narrow Band UVB is preferred due to enhanced safety, convenience and cost savings.
A final recommendation made by the AAD and NPF is that patient preferences should play a role in the treatment decision. Of course, efficacy and safety are a critical component of the conversation, but other factors can affect a patient’s decision. These may include dosing frequency, cost and proximity to the phototherapy unit.
If you’re interested in prescribing home phototherapy, or upgrading your clinic to our newest, innovative phototherapy booth or having service performed on your existing unit, call us today at (800) 322-8546.
