Topical tacrolimus in the treatment of symptomatic oral lichen planus: a series of 13 patients.

BACKGROUND

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a relatively common, chronic inflammatory condition, which frequently presents with symptoms of pain and irritation. OLP is often difficult to manage. Therefore there is a need for more effective and safer therapies for symptomatic OLP.

OBJECTIVE

Our purpose was to determine the effectiveness of topical tacrolimus as therapy for symptomatic OLP.

METHODS

A retrospective review was performed of 13 patients with symptomatic OLP treated with topical tacrolimus between September 1999 and September 2000.

RESULTS

Eleven of the 13 patients reported definite symptomatic response to treatment and 2 had no response. Eight patients had a partial response, whereas 3 patients had a complete response with respect to lesion clearance. Seven of the responding patients had no flares with continued treatment. The other 4 patients noted flares soon after stopping the treatment. Side effects were rare and minor.

CONCLUSIONS

In this retrospective case series of 13 patients, topical tacrolimus was well tolerated and appeared to be an effective therapy to control symptoms and clear lesions of OLP.