| Title |
Idoxuridine 10% Gel Appears Equally Effective As acyclovir 5% Cream In Treating Herpes Labialis |
| Clinical Question |
Will idoxuridine treatment have a better wound healing outcome than acyclovir in a patient with recurrent Herpes labials? |
| Clinical Bottom Line |
Acyclovir and idoxuridine both are effective reducing the healing time associated with herpes labialis. Topical idoxuridine is not currently available in the United States. |
| Best Evidence |
|
| PubMed ID |
Author / Year |
Patient Group |
Study type
(level of evidence) |
| 12705773 | Bernard/2003 | 253 | RCT | | Key results | This study was done in Europe through 45 different centers. All 253 patients were older than 18 and immunocompetent. All were showing signs of erythema no older than 24 hours. This is the only study that has been done comparing the two drugs and full article is in French. | |
| Evidence Search |
("idoxuridine"[Mesh]) AND "Acyclovir"[Mesh]) AND "Herpes labialis"[Mesh} |
Comments on
The Evidence |
The sole direct comparison study of topical acyclovir against topical idoxuridine in the treatment of herpes labials is only published as a "letter to the editor" in the English language. As such it is not available for review and there is no evidence of study replication. While possibly efficacious, more study is necessary to determine the efficacy of topical idoxuridine compared to topical acyclovir in the management of herpes labialis.
More importantly, topical idoxuridine is not currently marketed in the United States. |
| Applicability |
Acyclovir, or another FDA approved antiviral, remains the standard for managing herpes labialis in the immunocompetent patient. |
| Specialty |
(Oral Medicine/Pathology/Radiology) (General Dentistry) (Dental Hygiene) |
| Keywords |
acyclovir, idoxuridine, herpes labialis
|
| ID# |
2394 |
| Date of submission |
02/27/2013 |
| E-mail |
ashtiani@livemail.uthscsa.edu |
| Author |
Amir Ashtiani |
| Co-author(s) |
|
| Co-author(s) e-mail |
|
| Faculty mentor |
Michaell Huber, DDS |
| Faculty mentor e-mail |
huberm@uthscsa.edu |
| |
|
Basic Science Rationale
(Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?) |
| None available | |
 |
Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT
(FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs) |
| None available | |