[One-week application of terbinafine cream compared with four-week application in treatment of Tinea pedis]

Author(s): Sugiura M, Hata Y, Fukuda T, Ishizaki S, Hanyaku H, Naka W, Harada T, Nishikawa T

Affiliation(s): Department of Dermatology, Shimizu City Hospital, 1231 Miyakami, Shimizu-shi, Shizuoka 424-8638, Japan.

Publication date & source: 2001, Nippon Ishinkin Gakkai Zasshi., 42(4):223-8.

Publication type: Clinical Trial; Randomized Controlled Trial

The possibility of one-week application of terbinafine cream for tinea pedis was studied in a double-blind test at four institutes, comparing four-week application as a control. Of a total of forty-three patients studied, nineteen were randomized into a four-week application group, Group I, and twenty into a one-week application group, Group II. Group I was evaluated as moderate to extremely useful in twelve (63.2%) of the nineteen patients and Group II in twelve (60.0%) of the twenty patients. No statistical differences were observed between two groups. These findings appeared to indicate that the short term, one-week application of terbinafine cream had results equivalent to the four-week application. This short-term treatment which aids in improving patient compliance and reducing the total amount of drug applied, thus lowering drug cost, is viewed as a useful way of treating tinea pedis.