Introduction: Isotretinoin was found to be superior among other acne therapies in reducing acne lesion counts, hence its valuable role in the treatment of acne is indisputable. While there are many comparative studies comparing the efficacy and safety of different doses regiments, there is no systematic review assessing these studies to determine the best recommendation for oral isotretinoin dose regiment to treat acne vulgaris.
Objective: To determine the best recommendation for oral isotretinoin dose regiment in the treatment of mild-moderate-severe acne vulgaris.
Materials and Method: We searched PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, and ScienceDirect for comparative studies of randomized controlled trials evaluating different doses regiment of oral isotretinoin in the treatment of acne vulgaris. Data were extracted and summarized descriptively. Five trials were identified.
Results: Across all trials, low-dose regiments was preferable in all types of acne—considering its similar efficacy with conventional dose and fewer occurrence of side-effects and relapse with better patients’ compliance and satisfaction. If compared with other regiments of low-dose treatment, the continuous low-dose regiment had the best efficacy.
Conclusion: We recommend using a continuous low-dose regiment for mild-moderate-severe acne considering its efficacy, safety, patient’s compliance, and satisfaction.
Keywords: isotretinoin, oral isotretinoin, acne vulgaris, dose, efficacy, safety