Comparing pulsed-dye laser with cryotherapy in the treatment of common warts

ABSTRACT

No modality has been identified as the treatment of chice for treating common warts. Cryothearpy and pulsed-dye laser [PDL] are among common modalities for treating these lesions. The aim of this study was to compare pulsed dye laser with cryotherapy in terms of efficacy and complications. Of a total of 46 patients enrolled in this study, 7 patients withdrew the study, 20 patients underwent cryotherapy and 19 patients underwent PDL. Patients underwent a maximum of 4 therapeutic sessions at 3-week intervals in both groups. They were assessed for the remission rate [complete and partial], side effects and recurrence rate in each session and 1 month after termination of the treatments. At the end of the study complete remission was achieved in 37.8% of patients in cryotherapy group and in 52.3% of patients in PDL group. This difference wasn't statistically significant [P=0.229], though after first and second sessions of treatment complete and excellent partial remission occurred more in PDL group with significant difference [P=0.007 and P=0.021]. Pain and bulla formation occurred statistically higher in cryotherapy group [P=0.002 and P=0.001]. Other complications were rare in both groups. In terms of efficacy, we couldn't demonstrate the superiority of pulseddye laser therapy to cryotherapy in treating common warts. Both methods were safe for long-term complications but PDL was much safer for short-term complications