Observation of the therapeutic efficacy of acitretin combined with narrow band ultraviolet B on moderate to severe plaque psoriasis

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acitretin combined with narrow band ultraviolet B(MB-UVB) in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.Methods: 125 cases of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis were randomly divided into A,B groups.Both groups were treated by NB-UVB irradiation only and B group received additional oral acitretin for 4 weeks.The efficacy of treatment was evaluated by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index(PASI),PASI scores,effective rate and the occurrence of side effects were observed before and after treatment.Results: Effective rate was 88.33% in oral acitretin combined with NB-UVB group,significantly higher than 64.62% in NB-UVB irradiation group,the difference being statistically significant(P0.01).Conclusions: Oral acitretin combined with NB-UVB therapy can rapidly control the disease,shorten the course of and treatment and reduce side effects.