A double-blind study of the effectiveness of a 3% erythromycin and 5% benzoyl peroxide combination in the treatment of acne vulgaris.

One hundred sixty-five subjects completed a 10-week, double-blind controlled study comparing the following: (1) a combination of 3% erythromycin and 5% benzoyl peroxide in a gel, (2) 5% benzoyl peroxide gel, (3) 3% erythromycin gel, and (4) the gel vehicle. The benzoyl peroxide gel and the erythromycin gel were superior to the control gel; however, the combination product was more effective than any of the others. This was true for both pustular and papular lesions, but the most dramatic effect was on combined inflammatory lesions, i.e., papules and pustules.