Is cryotherapy the best treatment for cutaneous warts?

Abstract

Evidence-Based Answer Probably not. Standard cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen for ≤15 seconds) is no better than placebo or no therapy. Although aggressive cryotherapy (15–30 seconds) is better than standard cryotherapy, it appears to have an increased risk of harm and has not been compared with other therapies. Salicylic acid treatment may be preferable because it is more effective than placebo and appears to have a better safety profile than aggressive cryotherapy. Other therapies are more effective than placebo, but have not been compared with salicylic acid or cryotherapy (SOR: A, systematic review of RCTs).