A Survey on the most common side effects of Isotretinoin among A Group of Syrian Patients

Acne vulgaris is considered one of the most important cutaneous conditions affecting people in the society at the ages of adolescence and youth. There are many topical treatments along with systemic treatments that can be used to treat it. Isotretinoin is one of the most popular medications that can be used to treat acne vulgaris. Its use can be accompanied by serious side effects; especially teratogenicity. We aimed of this study to evaluate the most common side effects associated to oral isotretinoin intake among the Syrian society to increase the awareness among young adults. We designed an electronic questionnaire containing 20 questions and directed to patients who are treated with oral isotretinoin; taking in consideration the privacy of the questionnaire. 320 individuals (292 females – 28 males from all Syrian communities answered the questionnaire. Among all participants, 8.4% had taken oral isotretinoin without a medical prescription and 55% (176 of 320) had not done liver function tests before starting the course. We noticed that the most frequent side effect was chapped and dry lips 96.3%, and secondly dermatoxerasia 81.6%. It was surprising that 55.6% of all participants suffered from mood disorders and depression. These results confirm the importance of the survey in shedding light on isotretinoin side effects and increasing the awareness of its possible complications, in addition to educate the patients about the effects of this medication on the mental state along with mood disorders that may be associated to long-term use.