Treating psoriasis with short-contact dithranol every other day may be as effective as using it daily and is an option that should be explored further, say researchers from Newcastle upon Tyne.
Dr Sandy McBride and colleagues from the department of dermatology at the Royal Victoria infirmary presented the finding in a poster at the annual meeting of the Association of British Dermatologists in London on July 11-15. In their presentation, they, said that their current outpatient clinic protocol recommended using UVB light and short-contact dithranol in emulsifying ointment five times a week but that the resulting inflammation had limited the use of this treatment.
They recruited 26 patients and applied dithranol every other day to lesions on one side of the body and five times a week to lesions on the other side. UVB treatment was given five times a week to both groups. After six weeks, alternate day use had improved psoriasis plaques as effectively as the five times a week regime (51 and 52 per cent improvement, respectively).
Dr McBride told The Journal on August 21: "Five times a week application of dithranol is still normal practice at the infirmary but this was a pilot study. Our practice may change when we have completed a further study on more patients."