To compare clinical efficacy and safety of microwave thermotherapy versus microneedling in the treatment of axillary bromhidrosis.

From May 2018 to March 2019, 116 patients with different degrees of axillary bromhidrosis were collected from Department of Dermatology, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, including 56 treated with microwave thermotherapy by using a miraDry device, and 60 treated with microneedling by using a BodyTite device. These patients were followed up for 12 months after treatment, and clinical efficacy, complications and recurrence rate were evaluated.

After 12 months of follow-up, no significant difference in the response and recurrence rates were observed between the microwave group (94.64%[53 cases], 5.36%[3 cases], respectively) and microneedling group (93.33%[56 cases], 6.67%[4 cases], respectively; bothχ²=0.088, P=0.767) . However, the incidence of postoperative complications was significantly lower in the microwave group (0) than in the microneedling group (6.67%, including 2 cases of skin burns and 2 cases of scars; χ²=3.867, P=0.049) .

In the treatment of axillary bromhidrosis, microwave thermotherapy showed equivalent clinical efficacy with lower incidence of complications compared with microneedling.

Bromidrosis; Microwaves; Pulsed radiofrequency treatment; Microneedling