Treatment of Atrophic Facial Acne Scars With Microneedling Followed by Polymethylmethacrylate-Collagen Gel Dermal Filler

BACKGROUND Microneedling and soft-tissue filler injections have been used independently to improve acne scarring. The effectiveness of a combined approach using microneedling followed by polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)-collagen gel has not been carefully studied. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness and safety of microneedling alone versus microneedling followed by injection of PMMA-collagen gel filler for correction of atrophic facial acne scars. METHODS We conducted a multicenter, open-label, randomized, prospective study on subjects with distensible atrophic acne scars in the face to determine whether microneedling with PMMA-collagen gel is a superior acne scar treatment over microneedling alone. Forty-four subjects received 3 microneedling treatments over a 12-week period followed by randomization to treatments with PMMA-collagen gel (treatment group) or no further treatment (control group). RESULTS At 24 weeks, the treatment group achieved a statistically significant improvement in acne scores over microneedling alone. The improvement continued at 36 weeks. At 24 weeks, the treatment group showed a strong trend in improvement on the Physician Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale compared with microneedling alone.