Comparison of the effect of intra-dermal injection of botulinum toxin and normal saline in the treatment of facial skin pores.

[BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE] Skin pores (SPs) are normal and benign skin structures that are mostly located on the face (nose, cheeks, etc.) that cause many aesthetic concerns or complaints. One known effective treatment is botulinum toxin A (BTXA), which is also approved for the treatment of strabismus, blepharospasm, muscle spasm, cervical dystonia, glabella wrinkles, and primary axillary hyperhidrosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effect of intra-dermal injection of botulinum toxin and normal saline serum (NSS) in the treatment of large facial pores.

[METHODS] The study included 25 people who referred to the skin clinic of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ahvaz from June 2021 to January 2022 for the treatment of large facial skin pores. Randomly, some subjects were injected with botulinum toxin at ten points, and each point was equivalent to 2.5 units of Masport (500 units vial of Masport diluted with 10 ml of NSS). Some other people were injected with 0.05 ml of NSS by intra-dermal injection at ten points. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS-Ver. 22 software.

[RESULTS] Based on optical coherence tomography results, it was determined that the diameter of facial pores decreased significantly ( = 0.011). Dermoscopy showed a significant decrease in the average size of facial pores ( < 0.011), and also, the pore score decreased significantly ( = 0.021). In addition, the results showed that the size of skin pores and facial fat on both sides of the face did not decrease significantly from the patients' point of view ( = 0.71).

[CONCLUSION] Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that intra-dermal injection of botulinum toxin is an effective and safe method to control facial pores, which showed acceptable results after 3 months.