BRIEF REPORT |
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Year : 2020 | Volume
: 6
| Issue : 2 | Page : 81-84 |
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Safety and efficacy of one week oral steroid therapy in the treatment of common eczemas: An open label randomized controlled pilot study
Vikrant Abhay Saoji1, Arun L Bhat2
1 Department of Dermatology, JNMC, Wardha, Maharashtra, India 2 Dr Saoji's Skin Clinic, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
Correspondence Address:
Vikrant Abhay Saoji 22, Dandige Layout, Shankar Nagar, Nagpur - 440 010, Maharashtra India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijdd.ijdd_64_20
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Introduction: Oral steroids are not commonly used because of fear of side effects. A study was conducted to find out if a short course of 1 week of oral steroid without tapering is effective and safe for the treatment of common eczemas. Materials and Methods: Patients with common eczemas were included in the study. There were five groups. One group each received tablet prednisolone 15 mg morning and 10 mg after dinner for 7 days, tablet methylprednisolone 16 mg morning and 8 mg night for 7 days, and tablet betamethasone 2 mg morning and 1 mg night for 7 days. One group received tablet betamethasone 3 mg once a day as a single morning dose for 7 days and the last group received tablet deflazacort 18 mg morning and 12 mg night for 7 days only. All the patients also received topical clobetasol propionate cream for 1 month. However, the maximum permissible amount of topical clobetasol propionate was 30 g in a month. Basal serum cortisol at 8 am along with ACTH stimulation test was carried out in all the patients on day 10th. The tests were repeated on 30th day if negative on day 10th. Results: In all groups, rapid improvement was seen at visit 2, which further continued at visit 3. No suppressive effect on hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis was seen. Conclusion: A short course of oral steroid of 25 mg of prednisolone equivalent for a period of 7 days was found to be effective and safe, and 7 days of oral steroids do not need tapering.
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