Uzma Sarwar, Amna Munir, Annum Ashraf, Iqbal Hassan Khan, Habibah Tariq, Sumara Rashid, Muhammad Azam Bokhari.
Efficacy of oral tranexamic acid in patients with melasma.
J Pak Assoc Derma Jan ;33(2):519-24.

Introduction: Tranexamic acid has emerged as a promising treatment for melasma; however, few controlled studies exist. Oral tranexamic acid has been reported to be effective for treating melasma however, the effect of topical tranxemic acid remains controversial. The purposed mechanism is that it inhibits plasminogen keratinocyte interaction which decreases tyrosinase activity leading to decreased melanin synthesis by melanocytes. Objectives: To determine the efficacy of oral tranexamic acid for management of patients presenting with melasma. Materials & Methods: A total of 80 patients of moderate to severe melasma, 15 to 50 years of age were included. Patients were given 250 mg tranexamic acid twice daily along with sunscreen creams for the duration of 3 months. The patients were followed up every month. Efficacy was assessed by decrease in mMASI score from the baseline. Results: Eighty patients with age range from 15 to 50 years were included in the study. Mean age was 31.94 ± 6.29 years. There were 23 (28.75%) males and 57 (71.25%) females with male to female ratio 1:2.5. Mean duration of disease was 10.19 ± 2.09 months. Mean baseline mMASI score was 23.04 ± 5.14. Efficacy of oral tranexamic acid in patients with melasma was found in 32 (40.0%) patients. Conclusion: Oral tranexamic acid is effective safe and well tolerated treatment option for patients with moderate to severe melasma. Keywords: Melasma, oral tranexamic acid, efficacy

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