Psoriasis therapy: comparative studies with a hydrocolloid dressing, plastic film occlusion, and triamcinolone acetonide cream.

The efficacy of a new hydrocolloid dressing occlusion, alone or with 0.1% triamcinolone cream, was compared with triamcinolone acetonide alone or under plastic film occlusion in the treatment of localized plaque-type psoriasis. Thirty-eight patients were randomly assigned to one of four bilateral, paired-comparison treatment groups. Patients underwent 3 weeks of treatment, after which they were followed up for an additional week. After 3 weeks hydrocolloid occlusion with triamcinolone acetonide yielded a significantly better response than the cream alone or the hydrocolloid dressing alone, but the new dressing was comparable to a plastic film occlusive dressing of triamcinolone acetonide. After discontinuation of treatment, however, the sites that had been treated with hydrocolloid-occluded triamcinolone acetonide retained the better results. Topical steroids under hydrocolloid occlusive dressing may be a useful alternative to steroids alone for treatment of localized recalcitrant psoriasis.