Treatment of psoriasis with intralesional injections of triamcinolone.

Abstract

The effectiveness of orally administered triamcinolone in 60% of the cases treated was first reported by Shelley and colleagues1in a series of 60 patients with psoriasis. Of 21 of these patients who had skin tests in a psoriatic lesion with a 1% suspension of triamcinolone, 11 showed a zone of clearing at the injection site. Subsequently one of us (R. L. B.) with Cohen2demonstrated that triamcinolone in suspension injected intradermally produced larger zones of clearing in psoriatic plaques than other cortisone analogues similarly given. In view of these results, treatment of persistent plaques of psoriasis with locally injected triamcinolone was undertaken. Materials and Methods Because of the technical difficulty of injecting large plaques intradermally, the suspension of 1% of triamcinolone acetonide or of 2½% of triamcinolone diacetate was given subcutaneously, attempting however, to inject as superficially as possible. Either a 23-gauge 1.5-in. needle or a 26-gauge