Background: Acne is one of the most common dermatological disorders. Initial therapies for acne include topical retinoids, benzoyl peroxide, and topical clindamycin. However, patients who fail initial therapies may benefit from alternative topicals, including dapsone gel.
Objective: To analyze the current literature studying the efficacy of topical dapsone in the treatment of acne.
Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were systematically searched for clinical trials examining the efficacy of topical dapsone in the treatment of acne.
Results: Fourteen studies were included in the analysis. Dapsone monotherapy showed a treatment success rate of 40.1-69.4% for dapsone gel 5% and 29.8-47.0% for dapsone gel 7.5% when used for 12-16 weeks. In all studies, inflammatory lesions decreased by a larger percentage than noninflammatory or total lesions. Dapsone gel was also studied in combination with various other acne treatments, including doxycycline, oral isotretinoin, benzoyl peroxide, and topical retinoids. While mild treatment-related adverse effects, most commonly consisting of skin irritation, occurred in 2.0-75.0% of participants, no major treatment-related adverse effects were reported.
Limitations: Limitations of the study include variable treatment regimens making it difficult to compare results across studies. Additionally, adverse effects and skin irritation were reported differently, and potential selection biases exist in the randomized trials.
Conclusion: Dapsone gel offers a safe and promising alternative therapy for patients with difficult to treat acne or those who experience adverse effects to first-line therapies.
© 2022 the International Society of Dermatology.