A Systematic Review on Treatment Outcomes of Striae

Abstract

BACKGROUND Striae are fine lines on the body that occur following rapid skin stretching (i.e., following pregnancy, puberty, weight change). The aim of this systematic review was to assess the current literature on treatment outcomes associated with striae. OBJECTIVE (1) To assess the efficacy and safety of different treatment options reported for striae and (2) to determine the most efficient treatment options for each subtype of striae. METHODS A systematic search was performed on MEDLINE, Embase, and PubMed with no publication date or language restrictions. All articles with original data and treatment outcomes were included. RESULTS One hundred fifty-one studies on the treatment of striae met inclusion criteria (83% female, mean age at diagnosis = 30.2), and 4,806 treatment outcomes of striae were described. Energy-based devices were the most reported modality (56%; n = 2,699/4,806), followed by topicals (19%; n = 919/4,806) and combinations (12%; n = 567/4,806). The highest rates of complete response were injection-based devices for striae distensae (7%; n = 12/172), CO2 lasers for striae alba (4%; n = 12/341), and platelet-rich plasma injections for striae rubra (31%; n = 4/13). CONCLUSION Treatment options for striae are varied, likely indicating a lack of effective treatments due to the diversity in striae subtypes. Improved outcomes in striae management may be achieved with additional research on factors that predict treatment response.