Suction Blister Epidermal Grafting for Vitiligo Involving Angles of Lip: Experience of 112 Patients

Background: Lip vitiligo is usually resistant to medical modalities of treatment, and in all these cases, surgery offers a hope. Suction blister grafting (SBG) has been tried since long for lip vitiligo with high rate of success. There have been no long-term follow-up studies of patients with SBG at a difficult-to-treat site like angles of lip, which prompted us to conduct this study.

Aims And Objectives: To assess the pigmentation rate and patient satisfaction of SBG on vitiligo involving angles of lip.

Materials And Methods: This is a prospective study conducted on 112 patients with stable vitiligo involving angles of lip. SBG was carried out in all the patients using the standard procedure. Patients were advised to apply topical psoralen followed by sun exposure (PUVASOL) for 8-12 weeks after operation. The patients were followed up at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months for assessment of pigmentation and overall satisfaction.

Results: We found a pigmentation success rate of 83.7%, 84.9%, 85.7%, 78.3%, and 77.8% in the patients who were followed up at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, respectively. A total of 77.8% of patients who came for follow-up at the end of 24 months were very happy with the treatment.

Discussion: Our data show clearance of vitiligo and persistence of pigmentation gained through SBG in 77.8% of cases at the end of 2 years as well as excellent patient satisfaction in the cohort of patients who followed up with us.

Conclusion: SBG is an easy and cost-effective way of repigmentation of vitiligo involving angles of lip.