Oral isotretinoin is not associated with increased side-effects when prescribed to patients with less severe acne

Abstract

Oral isotretinoin is increasingly prescribed to patients with less severe acne. Such patients usually show little or no response to more conventional therapy such as long-term oral or topical antibiotics and topical retinoids. There is, however, concern amongst some physicians that patients with less severe acne may be less tolerant of the side-effects of oral isotretinoin. The purpose of this study was to address this particular issue: is oral isotretinoin associated with an increased side-effect profile when prescribed to patients with less severe acne? We recorded the side-effect profile of 492 patients treated with oral isotretinoin. Of these patients, 295 (60.0%) had less severe acne and 197 (40.0%) had severe acne. There were no significant differences in the total side-effect profile between patients with severe and those with less severe acne. However, when analysed at 8 and 16 weeks, both patient groups had significantly fewer side effects at the 16th week compared with the 8th week of treatment (P < 0.001). The conclusion from this study is that there is no difference in the side-effect profile between patients with severe and those with less severe acne receiving oral isotretinoin for acne.