Trichloroacetic Acid Peel Technique for the Treatment of Actinic Keratosis

Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) peels are a treatment used to improve the skin's appearance and exfoliate the skin surface by coagulating both living and dead keratinocytes. Peels can be performed with different strength concentrations of acid to achieve different depths of exfoliation. Superficial peels (for cosmetic indications) are often performed with a 10%–25% TCA solution. Because TCA is able to penetrate the stratum spinosum (the depth of dysplastic cells in actinic keratosis), medium-depth 35% TCA peels may be used as an adjuvant therapy for actinic keratoses.

Source: JDNA: Journal of the Dermatology Nurses Association - September 1, 2020 Category: Dermatology Tags: DEPARTMENTS: Procedural Pearls Source Type: research