Chlorhexidine, clotrimazole, metronidazole and combination therapy in the treatment of vaginal infections

Abstract

This was a clinical trial study that aimed to investigate the efficacy of vaginal chlorhexidine gel in the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis, bacterial vaginosis, and nonspecific vaginitis. The study population included patients who complained of vaginal discharge and presented to our University Gynecology Clinic. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The student t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the quantitative and ordinal data, respectively. In order to analyze the qualitative data, the Chi-square or Fischer's exact tests were used. The mean satisfaction score in the vulvovaginal candidiasis patients who received chlorhexiine vaginal gel was 9.06 and 8.29 in the patients who received clotrimazole vaginal cream. The Mann-Whitney test did not show a statistically significant difference between mean scores of VAS in these two groups with vulvovaginal candidiasis (P=0.027). Among the patients with bacterial vaginosis, the mean satisfaction score was 8.91 in the chlorhexidine vaginal gel group and 8.72 in the metronidazole tablet group (P=0.607). In the nonspecific vaginitis group, the mean satisfaction score was 8.83 in the chlorhexidine vaginal gel group and 9.17 in the combination group (metronidazole + clotrimazole vaginal cream)(P=0.401). The highest mean visual analog scale score (VAS) score was documented in the combination therapy group. We found that chlorhexidine vaginal gel is a more effective method for the treatment and improvement of vaginal infections. The benefits of chlorhexidine gel have a positive therapeutic effect as a single drug in nonspecific vaginitis, rather than simultaneous administration of two agents.

Keywords: bacterial vaginitis; chlorhexidine vaginal gel; nonspecific vaginitis; vulvovaginal candidiasis.