Abstract
Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of topical Tacrolimus 0.1% versus Clobetasol 0.05% in treating symptomatic oral lichen planus in terms of clinical score and visual analogue scale.
Materials and Methods: A one year randomized, comparative research of 60 patients with clinically and histologically proven Oral Lichen Planus was carried out. The patients were divided into two groups and given topical Tacrolimus or Clobetasol for a period of six weeks. The Data analysis was undertaken using SPSS Version 20.0.
Results: The mean Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score in the Tacrolimus group decreased from 8.1± 1.1 to 1.4± 0.5 at the end of treatment at 6 weeks while in the Clobetasol group, mean VAS score declined from 8.9±0.9 to 1.5±0.5. Similarly, the clinical score in terms of the lesion size decreased from 3.8±0.8 to 1.0±0.6 in the Tacrolimus group and from 4.2±0.9 to 0.9±0.8 in the Clobetasol group. Overall, despite a significant drop in mean lesion size from baseline, the two groups showed comparable mean sizes at the end of the trial period. (p-value, 0.61).
Conclusion: It was found Topical Tacrolimus is equally efficacious as Clobetasol in the treatment of symptomatic Oral Lichen Planus.