Comparing the Efficacy of Cryotherapy with 25% Solution of Podophyllin in the Treatment of Genital Warts in Women

Background: Genital wart is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD). Because of the unpleasant symptoms, chances of transmission and high risk of dysplasia and malignancy, the treatment is necessary. Several methods are used for the treatment of genital warts that the most common ones are podophilin and cryotherapy. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of these two methods and determine the best approach to treat women with genital warts.Methods: This was a clinical trial study on women with external genital warts referred to Khatam al Anbiya clinic, Yazd, Iran, during the years 2012-2013. From 60 enrolled patients, 30 were treated with cryotherapy and 30 with 25% solution of podophyllin. Each method was done once a week to complete the clearance of lesions, or the maximum period of 6 weeks. Patients were clinically examined on a weekly basis and were treated to a full recovery of lesions. In each session, the recovery rate, the number of lesions and possible side effects were recorded in a questionnaire.Findings: 60 patients in the age range of 17 to 51 years were enrolled; 53 were married, and 7 were single. In the initial examination, 36 patients (60.0%) were engage in the genital area, 10 (16.7%) in anal region and 14 (23.3%) in both the anal and genital areas. The mean time full recovery of lesions was 2.9 weeks in podophyllin and 3.4 weeks in cryotherapy groups. 46.6% of patients in cryotherapy group and 23% in the podophyllin group had complication. The highest incidence of complications in both treatment groups was one week after the initiation of treatment.Conclusion: Based on the results, the cryotherapy group required more therapeutic sessions than podophyllin group. It can be concluded that cryotherapy is more effective than podophyllin solution in the treatment of genital warts and has low complication and recurrence rate compared to cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen.