The Study on the Efficacy of Topical Vitamin K Versus 5% Urea on Laser-induced Purpura

Background: Purpura is a common adverse effect of dermatological procedures and can compromise the patients’appearance especially when they occur on the face. Topical vitamin K oxide has been known to be effective in treatment of purpura from vascular laser and minor surgical procedures. However its effectiveness on purpuric skin with minimal ablation produced by Q-switched Nd-YAG laser has not been studied Methods: Twenty volunteers had two areas of skin lasered on the upper inner arm using Q-switched Nd:YAG 1064nm laser at slightly purpuric settings. Vitamin K and 5% urea cream were blindly applied to the purpura twice daily as randomly allocated for 10 days. Photographs were taken on days 0, 1,2,4,8, and 10. Improvement of purpura using VAS and adverse effects were recorded. Results: Twenty volunteers with average age of 35.9 years completed the study. Evaluation by investigators showed no difference in reduction of purpura between the 2 regimens although vitamin K showed a faster onset. Interestingly subjects detected fading of the vitamin K-applied site significantly from the 2nd day after application. All lesions eventually lightened by the 6th day. Conclusion: In this study topical vitamin K oxide induced lightening of purpura faster than 5% urea cream.