Abstract
Objective: To study the efficacy while comparing Potassium Hydroxide 5% with Liquid Nitrogen in treatment of plane warts.
Study Design: Randomized-controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05895071)
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Dermatology, CMH-Abbottabad Pakistan, from Nov 2022 to April 2023.
Methodology: The sample size of 60 patients (aged 4 to 30 years was randomly assigned into two Groups i.e. from 60 patients, in Group-A 30 were advised topical 5%-Potassium Hydroxide solution on affected area once at night upto 4 weeks and in Group-B 30 patients were treated with cryotherapy using Liquid Nitrogen on cotton bud once every two weeks. Patients were reassessed at every two weeks and final assessment was done at 12th week whereas follow up was done every three months for recurrence. The treatment final outcome which categorized complete recovery on complete disappearance of warts with normalization of skin markings.
Results: In Group-A (mean age 15.70+7.35 years) 24 (80%) patients whereas IN Group-B (mean age 16.40+7.81years) 14 (46.7%) patients recovered completely. The 02 (6.7%) patients of Group A and 6(20.0%) patients of Group-B showed no response, rest of patients showed partial response to the treatment having significant p-value 0.003. There was no patient reported with recurrence of warts in Group A while in Group B 4(13.3%) patients. There is not any drop outs.
Conclusions: The Topical 5% KOH showed significant better response. Its treatment adherence is better as compared to the Liquid Nitrogen therapy and reporting lesser side effects.