Duct tape was not effective for common warts in adults
Q Is duct tape effective for treatment of common warts (verrucae vulgaris) in adults?
METHODS
Design:
randomised controlled trial.
Allocation:
concealed.
Blinding:
blinded (patients and investigators).
Follow-up period:
2 months.
Setting:
a Veterans Affairs medical centre in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Patients:
90 patients >18 years of age (mean age 54 y, 72% men) with ⩾1 common wart (diameter 2–15 mm). Exclusion criteria were pregnancy or lactation, treatment of the target wart in the past 4 weeks, immunodeficiency, genital wart only, and hypersensitivity or allergy to adhesive tape or latex.
Intervention:
duct tape (Scotch Transparent Duct Tape, 3M, St Paul, MN, USA), applied to the adhesive side of moleskin pads (Dr Scholl’s Moleskin Plus, Schering-Plough HealthCare Products, Memphis, TN, USA) (n = 44) or moleskin pads without duct tape (n = 46). Only the largest wart meeting criteria was treated. The wart was pared with a number 15 scalpel …
