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Monochloroacetic acid application is an effective alternative to cryotherapy for common and plantar warts in primary care: a randomized controlled trial
Identifier
021309
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
why they used Monochloroacetic acid instead of simple acetic acid is beyond us, but it does at least prove that 'science' has now proved to its satisfacion that acetic acid works. The pain they mention is not felt if you use acetic acid - a vinegar bath
A description of the experience
J Invest Dermatol. 2015 May;135(5):1261-7. doi: 10.1038/jid.2015.1. Epub 2015 Feb 5.
Monochloroacetic acid application is an effective alternative to cryotherapy for common and plantar warts in primary care: a randomized controlled trial.
Bruggink SC1, Gussekloo J1, Egberts PF1, Bavinck JN2, de Waal MW1, Assendelft WJ3, Eekhof JA1.
- 1Department of Public Health and Primary Care (V0-P), Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
- 2Department of Dermatology (B1-Q), Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
- 31] Department of Public Health and Primary Care (V0-P), Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands [2] Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Department of Primary and Community Care, 117-hag, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Abstract
Cryotherapy and salicylic acid (SA) often fail as treatments for skin warts. We examined the effectiveness of monochloroacetic acid (MCA) for patients with common or plantar warts. Consecutive patients aged 4 years and older with one or more newly diagnosed common or plantar warts were recruited in 53 Dutch general practices. We randomly allocated eligible patients to 13-week treatment protocols of office-applied MCA versus liquid nitrogen cryotherapy every 2 weeks for patients with common warts (n=188), and MCA versus cryotherapy combined with daily SA self-application for patients with plantar warts (n=227). The primary outcome was the proportion of patients whose warts were all cured at 13 weeks. In the common wart group, cure rates were 40/92 (43%, 95% confidence interval 34-54) for MCA and 50/93 (54%, 44-64) for cryotherapy (risk difference (RD) -10%, -25-4.0, P=0.16). In the plantar wart group, cure rates were 49/106 (46%, 37-56) for MCA and 45/115 (39%, 31-48) for cryotherapy combined with SA (RD 7.1, 5.9-20, P=0.29). For common warts, MCA is an effective alternative to cryotherapy to avoid pain during the treatment, although pain after the treatment is similar. For plantar warts, office-applied MCA may be preferred over cryotherapy combined with SA, on the basis of comparable effectiveness, less treatment pain, and less treatment burden.
PMID:
25584800