Use of narrow-band ultraviolet B in pediatric dermatology patients: ten years of experience from a tertiary care hospital.

Narrow-band UVB (NB-UVB) phototherapy is a safe and effective treatment for pediatric skin disorders. We aimed to present the results of our 10-year experience of the efficacy and safety of NB-UVB phototherapy in children. We collected data from the phototherapy records of children aged < 17 years who received treatment between January 2013 and June 2023. The study included 108 patients, of whom 58 (53.7%) were female and 50 (46.3%) were male, with an average age of 12.6 years (range, 5-16 years). The most common skin diseases treated with NB-UVB phototherapy were psoriasis vulgaris (n = 40, 37.9%), vitiligo (n = 36, 33.3%), and guttate psoriasis (n = 12, 11.1%). The average duration of phototherapy for all patients was 5.88 months (ranging: 0.5-20.5 months), with a mean cumulative phototherapy dose of 29.0 J/cm. The cumulative phototherapy dose was 25.7 ± 29.1 J/cm for psoriasis vulgaris, 41.2 ± 34.5 J/cm for vitiligo, and 16.8 ± 10.9 J/cm for guttate psoriasis. Ninety-nine patients (91.7%) responded positively to phototherapy without significant side effects. Only 20 patients (18.5%) experienced mild and temporary adverse effects such as erythema, itching, and burning, which did not affect the treatment. Of the 108 patients, 73 (67.6%) did not require additional phototherapy sessions and 78 (72.2%) did not experience disease recurrence. NB-UVB phototherapy is an effective and safe treatment for skin diseases, particularly psoriasis and vitiligo, which can have severe psychological effects on children.