Effect of Salicylic Acid 3% + Benzoic Acid 6% (Whitfield’s Ointment), Clotrimazole 1% Cream, and Systemic Terbinafine on Mild-to-Moderate Tinea Corporis: A Randomized Comparative Study

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The various epidemiological studies conducted on dermatophytic infection in different parts of India have concluded that there is a rising prevalence of dermatophytosis, with change in clinical presentation of infection. Although most of the therapeutic interventions show sufficient effect, there is a need for objective high-quality randomized comparative study to evaluate the effects of intervention, which can provide reliable evidence for clinical practice. Therefore, keeping this need in mind, we undertook this research work. To date, to the best of our knowledge, the inclusion of body surface area (BSA) as a tool for the evaluation of clinical improvement in dermatophytosis infection has not been considered. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the effect of topical antifungal as a monotherapy in naive and in combination with systemic antifungal drug in relapse cases of mild-to-moderate tinea corporis, to study and compare the efficacy of Clotrimazole 1% and Whitfield’s ointment as a monotherapy in mild-to-moderate cases of tinea corporis, and to study and compare the efficacy of combination of systemic terbinafine with Whitfield’s ointment and with clotrimazole 1% in mild-to-moderate relapsed cases of tinea corporis. Materials and Methods A total of 102 patients with mild-to-moderate tinea corporis who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled. The naive patients for monotherapy and relapsed cases for a combination of systemic and topical antifungal drugs were randomly distributed. Results Predominance of males than females and the duration of disease for more than 6 weeks were observed. There was a significant reduction of infection in all the groups after 4 weeks, but early response was observed with clotrimazole as a monotherapy and in combination of clotrimazole with systemic drug. Conclusion Topical drugs as a monotherapy in naive and in combination of topical and systemic antifungal drug in relapsed cases were effective, but to achieve zero BSA, treatment for more than 4 weeks is required.