These warts usually occur on the face in children and may spread to the
upper trunk and arms or rarely to other parts of the body. They are very
small (1-3 mm) slightly raised (palpate them!) papules which tend to present
in large numbers. They exhibit a positive Koebner phenomenon
which means that they appear in scratched or otherwise traumatised
skin. In most children they eventually clear spontaneously.
Plane warts usually do not appear in adults but may do so in large numbers
when they are immunocompromised, as in HIV infection.
Management of plane warts
- Salicylic acid 2-5% ointment twice daily for 4-8 weeks.
- If there are a limited number of lesions curettage with a sharp curette.
- Electrosurgery may be carefully tried but may leave hypopigmented scars.
- Caustic pencil (=silver nitrate pencil) daily.
- If lesions are widespread and salicylic acid 2-5% ointment is not successful it is best
to leave them alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment