Assessment of clinical efficacy in melasma treatment with picosecond laser combined with Shumin Star.

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of picosecond laser therapy combined with the Shumin Star in treating melasma and to explore the role of skin barrier function indicators in the assessment of this treatment process. Ninety patients with melasma were randomly divided into a study group and a control group. The study group received picosecond laser therapy combined with the Shumin Star, while the control group received only picosecond laser therapy. The clinical efficacy and adverse reactions of both groups were compared. Changes in skin barrier function before and after treatment were observed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of skin barrier function for treatment outcomes. The clinical efficacy of the study group was significantly superior to that of the control group (95.56% versus 82.22%, P = 0.044). After 3 months of treatment, the study group showed significant improvements of skin barrier function in TEWL, stratum corneum hydration, and sebum content, with a significantly lower MASI total score compared to the control group. During the treatment course, the incidence of adverse reactions in the study group was lower than that in the control group. Picosecond laser therapy combined with the Shumin Star is effective in treating melasma. Skin barrier function can be used to assess the clinical efficacy of this treatment, providing valuable reference values for clinical application and promotion.