A study comparing the efficacy of 25% podophyllin resin versus cryotherapy in the treatment of anogenital warts - What is old still holds good!

Context: Human papillomavirus types 6 and 11 are the most prevalent strains that produce anogenital warts. Both cryotherapy and podophyllin have approved modalities in the treatment of anogenital warts.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the treatment outcome following cryotherapy compared to podophyllin in the treatment of anogenital warts.

Settings and design: This was an observational study conducted in a tertiary care hospital.

Materials and methods: All patients diagnosed clinically with anogenital warts were recruited after obtaining informed consent and with due consideration of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A brief history taking and examination was done. Patients were segregated into two groups based on the treatment received, which was either cryotherapy or podophyllin once a week for 6-week duration. Treatment response was assessed every week based on various scoring systems.

Statistical analysis used: Results were analyzed using statistical software SPSS version 20.0.

Results: Both cryotherapy and podophyllin showed similar efficacy, with 92.3% of patients in each group showing complete resolution of the lesions at the end of this study. It was also found that participants in the podophyllin group required 3.50 ± 1.67 weeks for complete clearance, while the cryotherapy group required only 2.08 ± 0.99 weeks. Both groups exhibited an equal proportion of adverse effects, which were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: While both cryotherapy and podophyllin were equally effective in treating anogenital warts, cryotherapy showed a slightly faster resolution than podophyllin. Based on the overall findings, while both options can be provided to the patient, podophyllin still holds good in resource-poor settings where cryotherapy is not always available.