Quantitative Assessment of Polydioxanone Microsphere Fillers for Nasolabial Fold Correction: A Comparative Study.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Dermal fillers are essential tools for facial rejuvenation. This study evaluated the clinical efficacy and safety of a polydioxanone (PDO)-based filler from UltraV, compared with established commercial alternatives for improving nasolabial fold wrinkles.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-one participants (aged 20-59 years) were enrolled in this prospective, split-face comparative study. Each participant received 1 ml of the test product on one side of the face and an equivalent volume of a control filler on the contralateral side. Skin texture and sunken volume were quantified using ANTERA 3D CS imaging technology (Miravex, Dublin, Ireland) at three time points: baseline, four weeks after the first injection, and four weeks after the second injection. The imaging system's internal software was used to perform topographical analysis of skin surface changes.
RESULTS: Quantitative 3D analysis showed that the polydioxanone (PDO) filler yielded significantly better results than all controls in volume restoration and texture refinement (p<0.05). By week 8, the PDO group recorded a 22.68% volume reduction [vs. 7.69% for hyaluronic acid (HA)], 16.40% [vs. 12.15% for poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PDLLA)], and 23.55% [vs. 9.50% for polynucleotide (PN)]. Skin texture improvement in the PDO group reached 12.07%, a 2.22 fold increase compared to the PDLLA group.
CONCLUSION: PDO filler demonstrated favorable clinical efficacy in enhancing skin texture and volume, achieving improvements that were comparable to those of established fillers. These objective findings support PDO fillers as a viable nonsurgical option for facial rejuvenation.