Liquid nitrogen and salicylic/lactic acid paint in the treatment of cutaneous warts in general practice.

Patients with common hand warts and simple plantar warts attending a general practice wart clinic in Northern Ireland were assigned to one of three treatment groups - liquid nitrogen applied weekly, daily application of wart paint (lactic acid one part, salicylic acid one part, collodion four parts), or a combination of the two. Combination therapy cured 87% of common hand warts over a six week period, and was significantly more effective than either agent used separately (P<0.05). The results for simple plantar warts were disappointing and no treatment regimen proved to be significantly better than any other. These treatments were cheap, compliance and tolerance were good, and the six month recurrence rate was minimal. Given the likelihood that warts will multiply if left untreated we would recommend early active treatment for this condition.