Fractional CO2 Laser Plus Topical Tioconazole 28% versus Topical Tioconazole 28% Alone in the Treatment of Onychomycosis

Abstract

Background: Onychomycosis is a chronic fungal infection of the nail unit. The therapeutic options include oral antifungals as terbinafine, pulse itraconazole, fluconazole and voriconazole. Various laser systems have been tried for resistant cases to improve the results of treatment as carbon dioxide (CO2) and Nd:YAG lasers. Objective: Compare between two treatment methods; combined therapy of fractional CO2 laser (FCO2L) plus topical tioconazole 28% nail solution versus topical tioconazole 28% nail solution alone in the same patient with fingernails onychomycosis. Methods: This was prospective comparative interventional study conducted on 20 patients with two or more affected fingernails. The degree of affection of the studied nails was assessed clinically by onychomycosis severity index (OSI) and was confirmed by KOH and mycological culture. The studied nails were categorized into two corresponding groups; group (A), fingernails were treated with combined therapy in the form of 4-6 fractional CO2 laser sessions four weeks apart plus topical tioconazole 28% twice daily for six months, group (B), fingernails were treated with topical tioconazole 28% alone twice daily for six months. Results: A high statistically significant improvement was reported among patients treated with combined therapy than those who treated with antifungal only. The CO2 laser plus topical tioconazole solution yielded significantly higher percentage of improvement for onychomycosis. Conclusion: Both combined therapy and local therapy reported safe and promising outcomes. However combined therapy was associated with better improvement and local therapy was associated with minimal adverse events.