Volume : 3, Issue : 2, February - 2014

Comparative Study on Efficacy, Safety and Tolerability of Oral Isotretinoin Versus Weekly Pulse Dose of Azithromycin in Treatment of Papulopustular Acne Vulgaris

Dr. Vijay P Gupta, Dr. P. K. Rathorem, Dr. Gunjan Agarwal

Abstract :

Background and Aims: Acne vulgaris is a common disorder of adolescence which may lead to many cosmetically and psychological problems so various topical and systemic therapeutic modalities have been used. This study was designed to compare the efficacy, safety and tolerability of oral Isotretinoin with thrice weekly pulse dose of Azithromycin in the treatment of papulopustular acne vulgaris. Methods : In this study, 70 patients with mild to moderate papulopustular acne were selected and randomly allocated into 2 groups of 35 patients each.. One group was treated with oral Isotretinoin once daily at dose of 0.5mg-1.0mg /kg body weight according to severity of disease for four months and other group was treated with Azithromycin 500mg three days per week for 3 months. Results :In group A, all patients responded. The clinical response was found excellent in 24(75%), good in 5(15.6%), and fair in 3 (9.4%) patient in group A. In group B, clinical response was seen in 23(76.66%) cases and it was excellent in 5 (16.7%), good in 7 (23.3%), fair in 5(16.7%) and poor in 6 (20%) cases. There was a significant difference between group A and group B. Conclusion: Both isotretinoin and azithromycin can be useful for the treatment of moderate and severe acne but isotretinoin appears to be superior to weekly pulse dose of azithromycin.