Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Aim: Effectiveness and safety of topical 1% terbinafine versus topical 2% sertaconazole in patients with tinea cruris. Materials and methods: Patients with secondary bacterial infections, diabetic, immunocompromised patients, and on other antifungals were excluded from the study. We excluded patients having drug history of hypersensitivity to azole as well as allylamine group and women with pregnancyand lactation. 80 treatment naive individuals with tinea cruris were randomized into two groups of 30 each of 1:1 ratio using computer random sequence generator to receive either topical terbinafine applied twice dailyor topical sertaconazole once daily for a period of 4 weeks. Results: 80 patients with tinea cruris fulfilling the inclusion criteria were analyzed in our study. At the baseline, composite score of all clinical symptoms was 5.11 ± 1.06 in the terbinafine group and 5.61 ± 1.15 in the sertaconazole group which was matched (P = 0.85). At the end of treatment (4 weeks), total composite score was 0.09 ± 0.21 inthe terbinafine group and 0.04 ± 0.19 in the sertaconazole groupwhich showed statistical significance (P < 0.001). Table 2 shows intragroup comparison of mean scores of two groups. Conclusion: Terbinafine was equal in efficacy and safety to newer azole sertaconazole in treating patients with tinea cruris. However, sertaconazole has showed a better response to therapy as compared to terbinafine. Mycological cure was achieved in all patients at the completion of therapy indicating no recurrence. Both the study drugs were well tolerated and no serious adverse reactions.