Adjuvant visible incoherent polarised phototherapy in chronic skin defects: a single-arm prospective observational cohort study

Abstract Chronic skin defects, particularly venous leg ulcers, impose a substantial clinical and socio-economic burden. This single-arm observational study was undertaken to describe the healing dynamics, pain outcomes, feasibility and tolerability of adjuvant visible incoherent polarised (VIP) phototherapy in patients with chronic skin defects who were managed with full standard care, and to examine whether outcomes varied with the principal clinical problem and treatment duration. A prospective, single-arm cohort of 50 patients (38 females, 12 males; mean age 69.4 years) was observed. Adjuvant VIP phototherapy (626 nm; 2 mW/cm 2 ) was applied alongside the standard conservative and surgical wound care received by all patients, for 10–20 min per field, two to three times daily; the continuous emission mode was changed to a pulsed mode (5 Hz) after 7–10 days. Wound area was assessed planimetrically in a representative case, and pain on a 0–10 numeric scale. No sham-irradiated control group was included. Positive healing dynamics were recorded in 92% of the cohort and complete defect closure in 52% ( n = 26). In the chronic-pain subgroup ( n = 17), pain was reduced in 12 patients and resolved in 5. Improvement was associated with the principal clinical problem (χ 2 = 10.406; df = 3; p = 0.015) and with therapy duration (χ 2 = 8.630; df = 3; p = 0.035). Two patients reported mild, transient local reactions; no severe adverse events occurred. In this uncontrolled cohort, adjuvant VIP phototherapy was feasible, well tolerated and accompanied by favourable healing and pain outcomes. Because no control group was studied, these findings cannot be attributed to the light itself and are hypothesis-generating; randomised, sham-controlled trials are required.