Comparison of the efficacy between topical timolol and pulsed dye laser in the treatment of ulcerated infantile haemangiomas: a randomized controlled study

Abstract

Infantile haemangioma (IH) is the most common benign vascular tumour of infancy, and approximately 10-15% of patients with IH develop complications, among which ulceration is the most frequent1. To date, oral propranolol has been most widely used in ulcerated IHs2. Nevertheless, for relatively small ulcers, the topical application of timolol was proposed as an alternative method3. Meanwhile, pulsed dye laser (PDL) may also promote the resolution of ulcerated IHs4. However, there are no clinical studies comparing the efficacy of these two localised therapies in promoting ulcer healing in IHs.