Terbinafine-induced taste impairment - report of two cases

ABSTRACT

Terbinafine is an oral antimycotic agent that belongs to the allylamine class. It was introduced in 1991 and is being widely used, both topically and systemically, to treat fungal infections. Nowadays oral terbinafine has become a commonly prescribed drug to treat finger- and toenail fungal infections because of relatively short duration of treatment compared to other oral antifungals like griseofulvin and fluconazole. The common side effects of this drug include nausea, abdominal pain, elevated transaminases and allergic reactions. Loss of taste sensation is a rare side effect occurring in patient taking oral form of this drug. PubMed search showed that very few cases of terbinafineinduced taste loss have been reported worldwide. We report a case series of two patients who complained of taste loss after taking terbinafine