title: Practical pearls in phototherapy.
abstract: The following tips are suggested for phototherapy: (i) calibrate the unit with a radiometer every 2-4 weeks; (ii) change all bulbs at the same time every 8-10 months for regularly used machines or when the UV meter shows that the power has reached 3 or 4 mW/cm(2) ; (iii) avoid phototherapy sessions on consecutive days to prevent burn on burn; (iv) in the event of a burn, reduce the last PUVA or UVB dose by 50%, reinitiating when erythema has fully disappeared, which might take two days to two weeks; (v) nausea from oral psoralens can be avoided by taking it with a fixed amount of milk or food, taking an antiemetic with this meal prior to dosing, taking five ginger tablets 15 minutes before dosing, or dividing the dosage; (vi) to achieve 0.03% concentration of 8-methoxypsoralen for hand and foot soak PUVA, dissolve a 10-mg tablet or 1.0 cc of Oxsoralen(®) solution 1% in 3 l of water; and (vii) to achieve 0.000075% concentration of 8-methoxypsoralen for full-body soak PUVA, dissolve 60 mg 8-methoxypsoralen in 80 l of water (i.e. a bath tub).
authors.affiliation: New York University, New York, NY, USA; The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Cindy L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Tsui
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levitt
mesh_terms: D002056:Burns / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002138:Calibration; D011564:Furocoumarins / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D009325:Nausea / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011701:PUVA Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D011564:Furocoumarins