Evaluation of the therapeutic effects of photodynamic therapy in vulvar lichen sclerosus and impact on patient quality of life and sexual funtion

•PDT can effectively improve most symptoms and clinical signs, as well as quality of life of patients with VLS.•Improvement in sexual function is observed in early stage patients after PDT treatment.•This study suggests that early and timely PDT treatment are recommended to achieve better results. Vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) is often associated with irritable symptoms of itching, burning pain and can lead to scarring, architectural changes and sexual dysfunction as well as a decline in quality of life. The etiology of the disease is unknown. This study sought to assess the therapeutic effects of Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) in VLS, and improvment of patient quality of life and sexual funtion. From January 2022 to April 2023, a total of 65 patients with vulvar sclerosus (VLS) were treated with PDT in our hospital. All 65 patients were divided into two groups: early-stage group and late-stage group. The Cattaneo scoring method, the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) scores were used to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of the treatment on patients’ symptoms and clincal signs, quality of life as well as sexual function before and at 6-month after treatment. The total effective rate of early-stage patients was significantly greater than that of late-stage patients at 6-month after PDT treatment (90.91 % [40/44] vs 76.19 % [16/21], p < 0.05). At 6-month follow-up, the symptoms and clinical signs of patients in early-stage group were significantly improved compared with baseline, the average scores of itching, skin elasticity, whitening and lesion range were significantly lower than the scores before treatment (p < 0.05). In late-stage group, The decrease in scores of itching, whitening and lesion range at the 6-months follow-up is significant(p < 0.05), but skin elasticity (p = 0.0625). On post-treatment follow-up examination, FSFI score was seen to have significantly improved in early-stage patients(from a median score of 17.45 to 21.1, p < 0.05); DLQI also significantly improved after treatment (from a median score of 7 to 4, p < 0.05). In late stage patients, The DLQI score improved significantly after treatment (from a median score of 18 to 15, p < 0.05). However, the improvement in sexual function is not statistically significant (pre-treatment: median=10.55, post-treatment: median=10, p = 0.1865). Photodynamic therapy can effectively improve most symptoms and clinical signs, as well as quality of life of pa