CLINICAL SCIENCE

Combination Therapy of Intense Pulsed Light Therapy and

Meibomian Gland Expression (IPL/MGX) Can Improve Dry
Eye Symptoms and Meibomian Gland Function in Patients
With Refractory Dry Eye: A Retrospective Analysis
Sravanthi Vegunta, BS,* Dharmendra Patel, MD,† and Joanne F. Shen, MD†

Purpose: To assess the improvement in meibomian gland function

and dry eye symptoms in patients with refractory dry eye treated
D ry eye disease is a common condition that causes ocular
discomfort and reduces visual acuity.1 The 2 categories
of dry eye disease are evaporative dry eye and aqueous-
with a combination therapy of intense pulsed light (IPL) and deficient dry eye.2 Both conditions can involve pathology of
meibomian gland expression (MGX). the meibomian glands, lacrimal glands, lids, tear film, and
Methods: Medical records of 81 consecutive patients with dry eye surface cells.2,3 Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is the
treated with serial IPL/MGX were retrospectively examined to leading cause of evaporative dry eye4 and contributes to
determine the outcome. All patients had a minimum of 6 months of aqueous-deficient dry eye.5
follow-up after the first IPL/MGX treatment. Patients typically received Meibomian glands are modified sebaceous glands
1 to 4 IPL treatments spaced 4 to 6 weeks apart. Each IPL session located along the upper and lower eyelid margins. Twenty
included MGX. Thirty-five charts had complete data for inclusion in to 40 glands are located along each lid6 and secrete
analysis. We reviewed demographics, ocular histories, Standard Patient meibum, the lipid component of tears.7 MGD is defined
Evaluation of Eye Dryness 2 (SPEED2) symptom survey scores, slit- by the International Workshop on Meibomian Gland
lamp examinations, and meibomian gland evaluations (MGE) at Dysfunction4 as “a chronic, diffuse abnormality of the
baseline and at each visit before IPL/MGX treatments. meibomian glands, commonly characterized by terminal
duct obstruction and/or qualitative/quantitative changes in
Results: The paired t test showed a significant (P , 0.0001) the glandular secretion.” Patients may experience symp-
decrease in SPEED2 with IPL/MGX therapy. Of the 35 patients, 8 toms of eye irritation and clinically observable ocular
(23%) had a $50% decrease in SPEED2, 23 (66%) had a 1% to 49% surface disease and inflammation due to alteration of the
decrease in SPEED2, 1 (3%) had no change in SPEED2, and 3 (9%) tear film.
had an increase in SPEED2. The Paired t test showed a significant MGD is a disease commonly encountered by oph-
increase in MGE in the left eye but not in the right eye (OD P = thalmologists. The impact of dry eye on quality of life is
0.163 and OS P = 0.0002). Thirteen patients (37%) had improved comparable to the effect of moderate to severe angina or
MGE bilaterally. Eight patients (23%) had either a decrease in MGE dialysis treatment.8,9 The goal of MGD therapy is to provide
bilaterally or a decrease in 1 eye with no change in the other eye. long-term improvement of symptoms for patients by
Conclusions: This retrospective analysis shows that the combina- improving the quality of meibum, increasing meibum flow,
tion of IPL and MGX can significantly improve dry eye symptoms improving tear film stability, and decreasing inflammation.
(in 89% of patients) and meibomian gland function (in 77% of Commonly used therapies include preservative-free drops,
patients in at least 1 eye). omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, topical cyclosporine,
serum tears, topical azithromycin, oral doxycycline, mois-
Key Words: meibomian gland dysfunction, ocular rosacea, intense ture chambers, intraductal probing, lid margin exfoliation,
pulsed light, dry eye disease automated thermal pulsation, warm compresses, and others.
(Cornea 2016;35:318–322) Despite the variety of treatment options available, patients
often do not experience complete or long-term relief
of symptoms.
Received for publication May 23, 2015; revision received November 7, 2015; Forced meibomian gland expression (MGX) was first
accepted November 10, 2015. Published online ahead of print January 19, described in 1921 by Gifford10 as an effective method of
2016.
From the *University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ;
rehabilitating meibomian glands and improving dry eye
and †Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ. symptoms. The eyelid margins are forcefully compressed to
Presented, in part, at the ARVO 2014 meeting, Orlando, FL, ARVO meeting express gland contents. Korb and Greiner11 described an
abstract, May 4–8, 2014. improvement in lipid layer thickness and symptoms in 10
The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose.
Reprints: Joanne F. Shen, MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, 13400
patients with MGD treated with MGX. Forceful expression is
E. Shea Boulevard, Scottsdale, AZ 85259 (e-mail: [email protected]). painful for patients, and some patients are unable to tolerate
Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. the pain.

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Cornea  Volume 35, Number 3, March 2016 IPL/MGX Therapy for Refractory Dry Eye

INTENSE PULSED LIGHT THERAPY plugs, oral doxycycline, topical cyclosporine, topical steroid,
Intense pulsed light (IPL) devices have long been used topical nonsteroidal antiinflammatory, topical azithromycin,
in the field of dermatology to treat acne rosacea, acne automated thermal pulsation, and intraductal probing. Patient
vulgaris, hyperpigmentation, essential telangiectasias, selection and the IPL treatment protocol followed the
unwanted hair, and photodamaged skin. IPL is a high- established technique of Toyos et al.17 In brief, potential IPL
intensity light source consisting of visible light in the candidates underwent Fitzpatrick skin typing to classify their
wavelength range of 515 to 1200 nm. The light is both skin response to ultraviolet exposure by the degree of burning
polychromatic and incoherent.12 Most patients with dry eye and tanning. Fitzpatrick skin types I, II, III, and IV were
undergoing IPL receive this treatment as a last resort after included as recommended by the manufacturer, and V and VI
trying several other therapies. They often have severe MGD were excluded. The Quadra Q4 IPL Machine (DermaMed
and few to no expressible glands. The specific mechanism of Solutions, LLC, Lenni, PA) was used for all patients. Patients
IPL therapy in improving dry eye symptoms is unknown. It is did not have active lesions, skin cancer, or specific skin
postulated that oxyhemoglobin in blood vessels located on the pathology that would exclude treatment with IPL.
surface of the skin absorbs light emitted from the flash lamp. Patients received 1 to 4 IPL treatments, each spaced 4 to
The absorption generates heat that coagulates the red blood 6 weeks apart. At the first treatment, each patient underwent
cells, leading to thrombosis of the blood vessels.13–16 Given Fitzpatrick skin typing, and the IPL machine was set to
the proposed mechanism of IPL, patients with ocular rosacea appropriate settings—1D, 2D, or 4A. At each treatment, the
and associated lid margin telangiectasias would be the best eyelids were bilaterally closed and sealed shut with IPL-Aid
candidates for treatment. Treatments are spaced 4 to 6 weeks disposable eye shields (Honeywell Safety Products, Smith-
apart, and patients typically receive 1 to 4 treatments with no field, RI). After generous application of ultrasonic gel to the
established limit on the number of treatments. treated skin, patients received approximately 30 pulses (with
There are approximately 40 centers performing IPL slight overlapping applications) from the right preauricular
nationally; however, specific guidelines on selecting the ideal area, across the cheeks and nose to the left preauricular area,
IPL candidate have not been published. Two peer-reviewed treating up to the inferior boundary of the eye shields. Each
studies have been reported to date on the efficacy of treatment was followed by MGX with a cotton tip applicator
combined IPL/MGX for treating MGD as Dr Rolando Toyos, and digital pressure to empty meibum from bilateral upper
the ophthalmologist who introduced IPL to patients with dry and lower eyelids. Patients used preservative-free ketorolac
eye, has described. In their 3-year retrospective review of 91 drops twice a day for 2 days after IPL treatment. Slit-lamp
patient records, Toyos et al17 found a statistically significant examination was performed before each treatment. Patients
improvement in tear film breakup time (P , 0.001). underwent 4 monthly examinations and IPL/MGX treatments
Physician-judged improvement in meibum and lid margins or until symptoms were resolved to their satisfaction, treat-
was present in 94% and 98% of patients, respectively. Eighty- ments became intolerable, or they were unable to continue the
seven percent of patients showed improvement in clinical treatment protocol.
signs, and 93% had subjective amelioration of their evapo- The medical records of 81 patients with dry eye treated
rative dry eye disease. Thirteen percent of patients experi- with IPL/MGX between January 2013 and December 2014
enced an adverse event. Vora and Gupta18 conducted were retrospectively examined to determine outcomes.
a retrospective review of 37 patient records and found Thirty-five charts had adequate records for inclusion in data
a statistically significant decrease in scoring of lid margin analysis. Patients were excluded if records were missing
edema, facial telangiectasia, and lid margin vascularity and MGD and Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness 2
improvement in the meibum quality score (P , 0.001). They (SPEED2) data or if patients withdrew from therapy after 1
also found a significant increase in the oil flow score and tear IPL treatment. Demographics, ocular histories, SPEED2
film breakup time (P , 0.001) and a significant decrease in scores, slit-lamp examinations, and meibomian gland evalua-
ocular surface disease index scoring (P , 0.001). One tions (MGE) at baseline and 6 to 20 months after the start of
prospective trial has been conducted on the efficacy of IPL IPL treatments were reviewed. SPEED2 is a validated 14-item
(without MGX) for treating MGD. In their study, Craig et al19 questionnaire to evaluate the severity and frequency of dry
reported that IPL alone was effective in improving the lipid eye symptoms, use of drops or ointment, and frequency of
layer and patient symptoms. Gland function was measured vision problems that patients subjectively experience. MGE is
indirectly using lipid layer grading. In this study, we report on the number of lower eyelid meibomian glands observed
our early results of serial IPL/MGX in patients with ocular yielding liquid secretion with application of consistent gentle
rosacea and dry eye disease. pressure between 0.8 g/mm2 and 1.2 g/mm2 to the external
eyelid margin. The MGE value correlates with dry eye
symptoms.20
MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients completed a 14-item SPEED2 questionnaire
Mayo Clinic institutional review board approval was before treatments began and up to 6 to 20 months after the
obtained for a chart review. In our referral practice at the start of treatment. Compared with the established ocular
Mayo Clinic in Arizona, patients undergoing IPL/MGX had surface disease index, SPEED2 is a validated, shorter
previously failed or refused (because of side effects/cost) questionnaire that is easier to interpret.21 The purpose of
attempts with conventional treatments such as artificial tears, SPEED2 is to evaluate the severity and frequency of dry eye
hot compresses, lid hygiene, omega-3 fatty acids, punctal symptoms, use of drops or ointment, and frequency of vision

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Vegunta et al Cornea  Volume 35, Number 3, March 2016

problems that patients subjectively experience. The score

TABLE 2. Relevant Ocular Histories of Patients
can range from 0 to 28; a higher score indicates more
severe symptoms. No. Patients Percentage of
Surgery or Condition (N = 35) Patients
Cataract extraction, intraocular lens 7 20
Statistical Analysis placement
Laser in situ keratomileusis 6 17
Statistical software GraphPad Prism (GraphPad Soft-
Retinal detachment 0 0
ware, Inc, La Jolla, CA) was used for data analysis. Descriptive
Blepharoplasty 7 20
statistics for all patient data were obtained. Paired t tests were
Eyeliner tattooing 1 3
performed to compare the mean pre- and post-treatment MGE
Other surgeries* 7 20
and SPEED2 scores. Linear regression and Pearson correlation
Incomplete blink 4 11
analyses were performed to evaluate the correlation between
Contact lens wear 11 31
the change in SPEED2 and change in MGE. Results were
GVHD 8 23
considered statistically significant for P , 0.05.
Sjögren syndrome 1 3
Glaucoma 2 6
Lacrimal duct obstruction 2 6
RESULTS Other corneal conditions† 8 23
Table 1 illustrates the demographics of our patient group. Medications: antihypertensive, 21 60
The mean patient age was 61 (median, 64; range 20–84) years, anticholinergic, antidepressants,
which reflects our retired population that is overall older than opioids, benzodiazepines
other dry eye studies (Craig et al, mean = 45 years19; Korb and *Lid surgery for actinic keratosis, conjunctival cautery, RK, or lacrimal duct stent.
Greiner, range = 25–35 years11). As expected, the majority †Other corneal conditions: Fuchs dystrophy, map dot fingerprint changes, SLK, or
(77%) of the patients were women. More than half (63%) of keratoconus.
GVHD, graft-versus-host disease.
the patients had undergone previous ocular surgery and/or
blepharoplasty. The average duration of dry eye disease was 4
years (range, 0–30). The average number of IPL treatments
received was 4 (range, 2–6). SPEED2 scores (paired t test). Patients showed various levels
Table 2 outlines previous surgeries and comorbid of improvement of their symptoms and rarely worsening of
conditions that may contribute to dry eye symptoms in the symptoms. Of the 35 patients, 8 (23%) had a $50% decrease
total patient population. Many patients had previous ocular in SPEED2, 23 (66%) had a 1% to 49% decrease in SPEED2,
surgeries and were taking systemic medications that may 1 (3%) had no change in SPEED2, and 3 (9%) had an increase
impact dry eye. Table 3 shows the frequency of other dry eye in SPEED2 (Table 2).
therapy used. The majority of the patients had been treated After 1 IPL/MGX treatment, 71% of patients perceived
with artificial tears, omega-3 fatty acid oral supplementation, improvement in symptoms. After a third treatment, an
and oral doxycycline. Some patients had specific etiologies of additional 12% of patients noted a marked decrease in dry
dry eye disease such as graft-versus-host disease or Sjögren eye symptoms. After a third treatment, the remaining 12% of
syndrome. Within 3 months of starting IPL, 11 patients (31%)
had started concurrent therapy with topical azithromycin,
punctal occlusion for aqueous deficiency, doxycycline, and/or TABLE 3. Previous Therapies Tried by Patients
omega-3 fatty acid oral supplementation. Table 4 details pre- No.
IPL and post-IPL SPEED2 and MGE values of the Past Therapies Tried Without Patients Percentage of
patient population. Improvement of Symptoms (N = 35) Patients
After a series of IPL/MGX treatments, patients dem- Omega-3 fatty acids 31 89
onstrated a statistically significant (P , 0.0001) decrease in Preserved artificial tears 29 83
Hot compresses 23 66
Preservative-free artificial tears 22 63
TABLE 1. Patient Population Demographics Topical azithromycin 22 63
Punctal plugs 19 54
Demographic Factor N (Frequency)
Doxycycline/minocycline 15 43
Sex Punctal occlusion* 9 26
Female 27 (77%) Moisture chambers 6 17
Male 8 (23%) Topical azithromycin 5 14
Age, mean (range), yrs 61 (20–84) Lid hygiene† 5 14
Duration of dry eye disease, mean (range), yrs 4 (0–30) Occlusive dressing 5 14
Previous ocular surgery/blepharoplasty 22 (63%) Blinking exercises 4 11
Previous LipiFlow 22 (63%) Maskin probing 4 11
$20 points on pretreatment SPEED2 15 (43%)
*Punctal cautery.
SPEED2, Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness 2. †Ocusoft scrub, baby shampoo.

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Cornea  Volume 35, Number 3, March 2016 IPL/MGX Therapy for Refractory Dry Eye

TABLE 4. Changes in SPEED2 Scores and MGE

Subjects by Change Average % Change in Average Change in Average Change in MGE Average Change in MGE
in SPEED2 N (%) SPEED2 (Range) SPEED2 (Range) OD (Range) OS (Range)
All 36 (100) 35% (247% to 100%) 5 (27 to 15) 2 (23 to 14) 3 (22 to 13)
$50% decrease 8 (23) 61% (50% to 100%) 9 (5 to 15) 3 (21 to 12) 2 (21 to 7)
1%–49% decrease 23 (66) 28% (5% to 48%) 5 (1 to 10) 1 (23 to 10) 3 (22 to 13)
No change 1 (3) 0% 0 21 5
Increase 3 (9) 32% (22% to 47%) 24 (22 to 27) 3 (21 to 14) 0 (21 to 3)
MGE, meibomian gland evaluation; SPEED2, Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness 2.

patients noted a marked decrease in dry eye symptoms. This response to IPL/MGX therapy. An improvement in MGE in
result guides counseling of our patients regarding IPL/MGX. at least 1 eye was seen in 77% of patients.
If no response is perceived after the third IPL/MGX Although MGE is known to correlate with dry eye
treatment, further IPL/MGX is unlikely to be therapeutic. symptoms,20 subjective improvement (SPEED2) did not
Clinically, the MGE significantly improved in the left always correlate with physical improvement in MGE in our
eye, but the right eye did not achieve statistical significance study. We suspect that there is an alternate path of reduction
with IPL/MGX serial treatment (OD P = 0.163 and OS P = of symptoms through lessening of inflammation that cannot
0.0002, paired t test). Fourteen patients (40%) had improved be explained in our study. The mechanism of action of IPL/
MGE bilaterally. Twenty-seven (77%) patients had improved MGX on dry eye symptoms is not known at this time. It is
MGE in 1 or both eyes. Eight patients (23%) had either postulated that the oxyhemoglobin of superficial skin blood
a decrease in MGE bilaterally or a decrease in 1 eye with no vessels absorbs the yellow wavelength of IPL and converts
change in the other eye. The Pearson correlation coefficient light energy to heat energy that thromboses the vessels,
between the change in SPEED2 and change in MGE was decreasing superficial blood flow, which decreases inflam-
inversely related but not statistically significant (OD 0.039, mation to the lid margin.13–16 We know that the heat of the
P = 0.825 and OS 0.057, P = 0.745). Patients who responded lamp itself does not liquefy the meibum, because heat is not
adversely with either an increase in SPEED2 or a decrease in applied to the glands directly and the temperature of the skin
MGE did not develop skin or ocular abnormalities on slit- only increases by 1°C.19 Our experience does support treating
lamp examination. ocular rosacea with IPL/MGX to improve dry eye symptoms.
Our cohort had a severe level of disease overall, It is possible that patients experienced improvement in
reflecting possibly more decades of MGD combined with symptoms because of the effect of MGX or other confound-
arid desert climate. Forty-three percent (15/35) of patients ing variables, and not from IPL. However, in support of
scored $20 in their pretreatment SPEED2 (Table 1). One efficacy of IPL alone, Craig et al19 found a benefit of IPL
hundred percent of these severely affected subjects experi- treatment without MGX in a prospective, double-masked,
enced improvement in the SPEED2 score (ranging from 5% placebo-controlled, paired-eye study in a younger patient
to 65%), which is a greater percentage of improvement than population (mean age 45 years) of 28 subjects. Subjects had
that of the total study population. Improvement in MGE in 1 an improved lipid layer grade (P , 0.001), noninvasive tear
or both eyes was present in 80% (12/15) of these patients, film breakup time (P , 0.001), and visual analog scale
which is also a higher percentage than that of the total symptom scores (P = 0.015) in the study eye but had no
study population. changes in the tear meniscus height or tear evaporation rate.
Interestingly, 22 patients (63%) in the study had Craig et al found improvement in symptoms after IPL
previously undergone thermal pulsation treatment22 (Lipi- therapy, as was observed in our study.
Flow; TearScience, Inc, Morrisville, NC) without improve- In our study, IPL/MGX did not show any improvement
ment of symptoms after 3 months. Subanalysis shows that the in a few patients with dry eye. One nonresponder had
majority of these prior thermal pulsation–treated patients had challenging conditions including incomplete blink or lagoph-
improvement in SPEED2 in response to IPL (86%, 19/22). In thalmos possibly related to a cosmetic face-lift procedure,
this group of patients with improved SPEED2 scores, 21% (4/ which could not be expected to resolve with IPL/MGX.
19) had a $50% decrease in their SPEED2 scores. Additional factors that may have caused the complex nature
of dry eye disease among these nonresponders were bleph-
aroplasty, laser in situ keratomileusis, contact lens wear,
DISCUSSION benzodiazepine use, tricyclic antidepressant use, and diuretic
Evaporative dry eye is the most common cause of dry use. Meibography was not available at our center at the time
eye. Quality-of-life is significantly adversely affected by dry of patient evaluation, which would have otherwise allowed
eye disease.8,9 The typical referral dry eye clinic treats for detection of end-stage gland atrophy. We would hypoth-
patients who have had the disease for many years and have esize that, like in the case of periodontal disease, there may be
failed multiple modalities of dry eye treatment. In our some patients whose long-standing MGD with end-stage
experience, SPEED2 scores improved in 89% of patients in disease and atrophy cannot be significantly reversed with

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Vegunta et al Cornea  Volume 35, Number 3, March 2016

IPL/MGX. Possibly, there is a therapeutic window of Definition and Classification Subcommittee. Invest Ophthalmol Vis
treatment opportunity for patients with MGD. Providing Sci. 2011;52:1930–1937.
5. Nichols KK, Foulks GN, Bron AJ, et al. The international workshop on
IPL/MGX to these patients earlier in the disease process meibomian gland dysfunction: executive summary. Invest Ophthalmol
may be beneficial; however, this noncovered treatment may Vis Sci. 2011;52:1922–1929.
be financially prohibitive for some patients. Future pro- 6. Bron AJ, Benjamin L, Snibson GR. Meibomian gland disease: classifi-
spective long-term studies of MGD will be helpful in cation and grading of lid changes. Eye (Lond). 1991;5:395–411.
establishing guidelines for a therapeutic window of treatment. 7. Chew CK, Jansweijer C, Tiffany JM, et al. An instrument for quantifying
meibomian lipid on the lid margin: the meibometer. Curr Eye Res. 1993;
IPL/MGX therapy is an alternative option for patients 12:247–254.
who do not show improvement with automated thermal 8. Buchholz P, Steeds CS, Stern LS, et al. Utility assessment to measure the
pulsation. Sixty-three percent of our study patients had impact of dry eye disease. Ocul Surf. 2006;4:155–161.
previously tried thermal pulsation without improvement of 9. Schiffman RM, Walt JG, Jacobsen G, et al. Utility assessment among
patients with dry eye disease. Ophthalmology. 2003;110:1412–1419.
their symptoms. However, patients considering IPL/MGX 10. Gifford SR. Meibomian glands in chronic blepharoconjunctivitis. Am J
treatment are counseled that the pain associated with MGX Ophthalmol. 1921;4:489–494.
can be intolerable for some, unlike automated thermal 11. Korb DR, Greiner JV. Increase in tear film lipid layer thickness following
pulsation, which is well tolerated by most. From the data treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction. Adv Exp Med Biol. 1994;350:
we have collected thus far, it is difficult to determine the 293–298.
12. Heymann WR. Intense pulsed light. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2007;56:
characteristics of the ideal IPL/MGX candidate and who 466–467.
would be a nonresponder. We did not control for or 13. Papageorgiou P, Clayton W, Norwood S, et al. Treatment of rosacea with
individually study patient characteristics such as ocular intense pulsed light: significant improvement and long-lasting results. Br
factors, comorbidities, severity of MGD, and age. However, J Dermatol. 2008;159:628–632.
our study showed that if patients do not respond after 3 14. Mark KA, Sparacio RM, Voigt A, et al. Objective and quantitative
improvement of rosacea-associated erythema after intense pulsed light
treatments, a fourth treatment is unlikely to be of any benefit. treatment. Dermatol Surg. 2003;29:600–604.
In summary, IPL treatment for MGD can improve dry 15. Clark SM, Lanigan SW, Marks R. Laser treatment of erythema and
eye symptoms and is a reasonable option for patients who telangiectasia associated with rosacea. Lasers Med Sci. 2002;17:26–33.
have not shown improvement with other therapies. This study 16. Tan SR, Tope WD. Pulsed dye laser treatment of rosacea improves
erythema, symptomatology, and quality of life. J Am Acad Dermatol.
is limited by its retrospective nature and the small sample 2004;51:592–599.
size. These preliminary data allow us to plan for more 17. Toyos R, McGill W, Briscoe D. Intense pulsed light treatment for dry eye
rigorous prospective case-controlled studies with long-term disease due to meibomian gland dysfunction: a 3 year retrospective
follow-up. Future studies are necessary to determine the study. Photomed Laser Surg. 2015;33:41–46.
mechanism of IPL therapy and selection of ideal candidates to 18. Vora GK, Gupta PK. Intense pulsed light therapy for the treatment of
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