INTENSE PULSED LIGHT IN THERAPEUTICS OF ONYCHOMYCOSIS

Abstract

Onychomycosis is defined as the disease that most frequently affects the nails in humans and is caused by fungi; It is responsible for more than half of the cases of nail changes. The present investigation was developed with the purpose of demonstrating the use of intense pulsed light as a possible valuable resource in the therapy of onychomycosis, this could be a safe treatment, of good effectiveness and low cost. In order to determine its efficacy, a quasi-experimental study was carried out in 18 patients treated between January-August 2022, who met the study inclusion criteria. Informed consent was requested from the patients and they were evaluated according to the Onychomycosis Severity Index (OSI) classification and a photographic record of the before and after patients was made to assess the evolution of the lesions. 6 sessions were carried out, with an interval of 7 days, applying the platform of intense pulsed light with fluences of 10 to 30 J/cm2, frequency of1 MHz, with a pulse duration of 3 milliseconds and cut-off filters of 490nm. The reduction percentages of the severity index of onychomycosis was almost 80%. The results of this study show that intense pulsed light treatment was effective for patients whohad a moderate and mild severity index. There were no complications and pain was the only adverse effect in 83.33% of the patients. It is concluded that the treatment with intense pulsed light turned out to be an effective, low-cost, safe and fast-acting method, since excellent results were evidenced 15 days after the last session.