Management of oral submucous fibrosis by two different drug regimens: A comparative study.

[oral submucous fibrosis]

Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSF ) is a precancerous condition of the oral mucosa . Existing treatments give only temporary symptomatic relief . Colchicine is an ancient drug with anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory properties . We planned to study the effects of colchicine in the management of oral submucous fibrosis .Fifty OSF patients were divided randomly into two groups and treated for 12 weeks . Group 1 -Patients were administered tablet colchicine orally , 0 .5 mg twice daily and 0 .5 ml intralesional injection Hyaluronidase 1 ,500 IU into each buccal mucosa once a week . Group 2 -Patients were administered 0 .5 ml intralesional injection Hyaluronidase 1 ,500 IU and 0 .5 ml intralesional injection Hydrocortisone acetate 25 mg /ml in each buccal mucosa once a week alternatively . Student 's t test and analysis of variance (ANOVA ) were used to compare pre and post treatment results . P <0 .05 was considered as significant .Thirty -three percent in group 1 got relief from burning sensation in the second week . Inter group comparisons of increase in mouth opening and reduction in histological parameters indicated that group 1 patients responded better than group 2 .These encouraging results should prompt further clinical trials with colchicine alone on a larger sample size to broaden the therapeutic usefulness of the drug in the management of OSF .