Comparison of low dose oral Methotrexate vs Systemic Corticosteroids for treatment of Oral Lichen Planus

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Background: Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) is a relatively common chronic inflammatory mucocutaneous disorder. WHO considers OLP a premalignant lesion. This makes management of OLP important to avoid its malignant transformation. Corticosteroids are considered as the first-line of treatment. Different other treatment modalities are also in use for OLP. But there is no statistically significant data available for a particular therapy. The recent evidences suggest methotrexate may effectively be used in low dose in the treatment of OLP. Aim: To compare the frequency of complete resolution of mucosal lesions of oral lichen planus with low dose oral methotrexate versus systemic corticosteroids. Methods: It was a randomized control trial conducted at Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Department, King Edward Medical University/Mayo Hospital Lahore in six months. A sample of 60 patients was divided into two sub groups namely Group -A (methotrexate) and Group - B (corticosteroid) using lottery method. More than 75% resolution of mucosal lesions clinically was considered as complete resolution at the end of 8th week. Results: The mean age of the patients was 44.55±12.38 years. On 8th week, frequency of complete resolution of mucosal lesions was 73.3% in Group A and 60% in Group B with an insignificant difference (p-value<0.05). Conclusion: Methotrexate group A showed more complete resolution of mucosal lesions than corticosteroid group B with insignificant statistical difference. Keywords: Oral Lichen Planus, Mucosal lesions, Malignant transformation, Methotrexate, Corticosteroids