A Comparison of Clinical Efficiency of Photodynamic Therapy and Topical Corticosteroid in Treatment of Oral Lichen Planus: A Split-Mouth Randomised Controlled Study

Abstract

Background: The aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy (PDT) to steroid therapy in the treatment of oral lichen planus (OLP). Due to the lack of commercially available drug carriers, innovative proprietary solutions were used for both the photosensitiser and the steroid carrier—in the first case to shorten and in the second to extend the contact of the active substance with the mucosa. Methods: A prospective, randomised, single-blind, 12-week full contralateral split-mouth clinical trial of 30 patients with bilateral oral lichen planus was conducted. The prepared matrices were incorporated with active substances methylene blue 5% and 0,05% triamcinolone. The size of lesions, Thongprasom, ABISIS, and VAS scale were evaluated. Results: Relatively high rates of complete remission of lichen were demonstrated: immediately after treatment, 33.3% with PDT and 22.2% with triamcinolone (TA), and after 3 months, 54.2% with PDT and 62.9% with TA. After 3 months of treatment, a reduction in the area of evaluated lesions of 52.7% for PDT and 41.7% for TA was achieved. Conclusion: In situations of topical or general contraindications to oral corticosteroids, resistance to them, or the need for repeated treatment in a short period of time, PDT appears to be a very promising treatment option.

Emerging potential of phototherapy in management of symptomatic oral lichen planus: A systematic review of randomised controlled clinical trials

“…Two studies [141, 144] mentioned the age of their study population to be under 20 years of age. The mean age range was 40–50 years in four studies [136, 138, 139, 143] whereas the mean age range was 50–60 in one study [142] while two study failed to provide any information on the age distribution of their study population [137], one study mentioned the age range of their study population as 33–76 years [140] (Table 1).…”

“…Only one study [138] failed to provide any information about the lesion site. While the number of lesions were mentioned as 51 in one study [140] and 224 in another study [142], whereas the remaining seven studies failed to provide this information [136–139, 141, 143, 144] (Table 1).…”

“…Seven studies had two intervention groups [136–138, 140–142, 144] in which four of them were aPDT and control group [136–138, 140], whereas in the remaining three studies, the intervention groups were LLLT and control group [141, 142, 144]. One study had three intervention groups namely; aPDT, LLLT and control group [139] whereas, one study had four intervention groups namely; LLLT, two positive control groups and one negative control group [143].…”

“…This section focuses on four out of the nine included studies [136–138, 140] which utilised aPDT compared to the conventional therapy in symptomatic OLP management (Table 2).…”

Patches as Polymeric Systems for Improved Delivery of Topical Corticosteroids: Advances and Future Perspectives

“…Topical corticosteroids (CS) are the drugs of choice for the symptomatic treatment of various diseases of the skin (e.g., atopic dermatitis and psoriasis) [ 1 , 2 ] and the oral mucosa (e.g., oral lichen planus, aphthous stomatitis, pemphigus, etc.) [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Their high clinical efficacy is associated with their anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, antiproliferative, and vasoconstrictive effects [ 7 , 8 ].…”