Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Sep;4(3):188-91.
doi: 10.4103/0974-2077.91250.

Efficacy of Intralesional Bleomycin in Palmo-plantar and Periungual Warts

Prasoon Soni  1 , Kanika Khandelwal, Naushin Aara, Bhikam C Ghiya, Rajesh D Mehta, Ram A Bumb
Affiliations

Efficacy of Intralesional Bleomycin in Palmo-plantar and Periungual Warts

Prasoon Soni et al. J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2011 Sep.

Abstract

Background/aim: Intralesional bleomycin gained increasing popularity in the recent past for treatment of warts particularly in palmo-plantar and periungual regions as other modalities are not very effective. Hence we evaluated the role of intralesional bleomycin in periungual and palmo-plantar warts to know its efficacy in Indian patients.

Settings and design: This was a placebo-controlled study.

Materials and methods: Fifty patients of multiple palmo-plantar and periungual warts were included in this study and categorized in groups A and B of 25 each. Alternate patients were included in groups A and B and treated respectively with intralesional bleomycin (1 mg/mL solution) and normal saline as placebo, fortnightly for maximum up to two injections. Patients were followed up weekly for 1 month, fortnightly up to 12 weeks, and then quarterly for 1 year. If warts persisted after 12 weeks of starting treatment, it was considered a failure. Statistical analysis was done by the chi-square test using M-stat software.

Results: Group A and B patients were having 85 warts and 72 warts, respectively. The cure rate in group A and B patients was 96.47% (82/85 warts) and 11.11% (8/72 warts), respectively, after one or two injections within 12 weeks. The difference in the cure rate between two groups was statistically highly significant (<0.0001). In group A patients, a haemorrhagic eschar was formed which gradually healed in 8-12 weeks without atrophy or pigmentation; this phenomenon was not seen in group B. Only moderate pain was observed by most of the patients during injection in both groups.

Conclusion: The intralesional injection of bleomycin is highly effective, safe, and non-toxic in periungual and palmo-plantar warts.

Keywords: Bleomycin; intralesional injection; palmo-plantar and periungual warts.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Blanching of the wart after intralesional bleomycin injection
Figure 2
Figure 2
Multiple palmar warts before the initiation of treatment
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Partial improvement at the second week; (b) Complete resolution of warts without atrophy and hyperpigmentation after 6 weeks of intralesional bleomycin
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bremner RM. Warts: Treatment with intralesional bleomycin. Cutis. 1976;18:264–6. - PubMed
    1. Cordero AA, Guglielmi HA, Woscoff A. The common wart. Intralesional treatment with Bleomycin sulfate. Cutis. 1980;26:319–24. - PubMed
    1. Lipke M.M. An armamentarium of wart treatments. Clin Med Res. 2006;4:273–93. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bunney MH, Nolan MW, Buxton PK, Going SM, Prescott RJ, et al. The Treatment of resistant warts with intralesional bleomycin: A controlled clinical trial. Br J Dermatol. 1984;110:197–207. - PubMed
    1. Shumer SM, O’Keefe EJ. Bleomycin in the treatment of recalcitrant warts. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1983;9:91–96. - PubMed