Benefit of bath emollients is questionable, DTB says
Bath emollients are of dubious benefit in the treatment of patients with atopic eczema, the latest issue of the Drug
and Therapeutics Bulletin concludes (2007;45:73).
The DTB argues that, although there is long clinical experience and some
published evidence to justify the use of topical emollients applied directly
to the skin, the basis for the use of bath emollients is
questionable.
The NHS spends £16m a year on bath emollients, but there are no
published randomised controlled trials on their use in atopic eczema
and there is no consensus of clinical opinion that such therapy is effective,
the DTB says.
Use of bath emollients needs to be compared with the use of an emollient
as a soap substitute followed by direct application of a topical emollient
to the skin. And the effect of bath emollient treatment on patients’ overall
use of emollient therapy needs to be
examined.
“In the absence of such evidence, treatment strategies in which
patients successfully apply emollients to the skin without ever using
bath emollients
are entirely reasonable,” it says.
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