Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition that requires long-term maintenance therapy, sometimes lifelong. Phototherapy (narrowband ultraviolet B, broadband ultraviolet B, and psoralen plus ultraviolet A) is a safe and effective method of treating generalized psoriasis. Although there are numerous publications demonstrating the efficacy of phototherapy for the initial clearance of psoriasis, there has not been a review evaluating the merits of phototherapy for the maintenance of remission in patients with psoriasis once they clear their skin disease. We searched PubMed for articles evaluating the efficacy of phototherapy for maintaining remission in patients with treated generalized psoriasis. The majority of published trials supported the use of maintenance phototherapy after clearance of generalized psoriasis. Typically, the studies showed that maintenance phototherapy reduces the rate of disease relapse and prolongs the duration of remission of psoriasis after initial clearance. There is available evidence supporting phototherapy, including psoralen plus ultraviolet A, as a safe and effective treatment option for maintenance of remission in patients with generalized psoriasis. Further studies are needed to adequately assess narrowband ultraviolet B for maintenance therapy, and additional studies are also necessary to directly compare the efficacy of different phototherapy types for remission maintenance.
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