1. Management of cutaneous warts: an evidence-based approach
- Author
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Maria Rita Nasca, Giuseppe Micali, Aurora Tedeschi, and Federica Dall'Oglio
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Imiquimod ,Cryotherapy ,Dermatology ,Placebo ,Antiviral Agents ,Drug Administration Schedule ,law.invention ,Pharmacotherapy ,Randomized controlled trial ,law ,medicine ,Humans ,Adverse effect ,Common warts ,Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ,Foot Dermatoses ,Evidence-Based Medicine ,Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ,business.industry ,General Medicine ,Evidence-based medicine ,medicine.disease ,Photochemotherapy ,Dermatologic Agents ,Immunotherapy ,Laser Therapy ,Warts ,business ,Salicylic Acid ,Facial Dermatoses ,Immunosuppressive Agents ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Cutaneous warts are benign epidermal proliferations caused by human papillomavirus infection. Treatment aims to cure the patient's physical and psychological discomfort, and to prevent the spread of infection by contact with other body areas or with other individuals. Among the available medical and destructive therapeutic options for cutaneous warts, none is uniformly effective or virucidal. Moreover, in most cases the safety and efficacy of these treatment options has not been assessed in randomized controlled trials, so that the reproducibility of many of the listed treatments is difficult to evaluate and a possible placebo effect cannot be ruled out. This article provides indications for the management of patients with cutaneous warts through an evidence-based approach, considering a first-, second-, and third-line therapy for each clinical form. The first line includes medical treatments useful to cure single, or few, and/or small common warts of short duration (
- Published
- 2004