Abstract :
Warts are a generally benign and common finding in patients worldwide, with an estimated prevalence of 10–20%. Discussing treatment options for warts is a complicated subject as numerous options exist, but no one treatment modality has satisfying efficacy and recurrence rate. Furthermore, current guidelines for treating warts are outdated, with the latest one published in 2014. Since then, numerous research has yielded new data and evidence with regards to various aspects of warts. Hence, this evidence-based literature review aims to provide an update to these previous guidelines. Literature search was conducted to collect latest evidence regarding to warts and their treatment. The main keywords used to conduct the literature review are “treatment”, “cutaneous wart”, and “plantar wart”, and “verruca vulgaris”; these keywords are adjusted for each treatment modality. As of date, the best-studied treatments are salicylic acid and cryotherapy. Both therapies are still the primary treatments for warts, though their efficacy are not very high. Pulsed-dye laser and photodynamic therapy with aminolevulinic acid have promising success rates and can be considered alternative treatments. Surgical excision remains the treatment of choice for advanced and warts refractory for treatment. With regards to the small number of novel studies found from the literature search, we highly support more studies to be conducted with regards to wart treatment. Furthermore, we also urge for existing guidelines to be updated to current available evidence.
