Comparison of electrophysiology therapy and glucocorticoid therapy in the treatment of 2 subtypes of vulvar epithelial non-neoplastic lesions: a prospective cohort study

Dongmei Wei; Jijie Li; Yueting Zhang; Jian Meng; Yueyue Chen; Xiaoyu Niu

doi:10.21037/atm-23-224

Comparison of electrophysiology therapy and glucocorticoid therapy in the treatment of 2 subtypes of vulvar epithelial non-neoplastic lesions: a prospective cohort study

Ann Transl Med. 2023 Feb 28;11(4):175. doi: 10.21037/atm-23-224.

Authors

Dongmei Wei^{1

2}, Jijie Li^{2

3}, Yueting Zhang^{1

2}, Jian Meng^{1

2}, Yueyue Chen^{1

2}, Xiaoyu Niu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, West China Second Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu, China.
³ Medical Records Management Department, West China Second Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Background: Lichen-like lesions with degeneration and pigmentation alterations can be divided into the following 2 types: (I) chronic simple lichen; and (II) sclerosing lichen. The etiology of the disease is unknown. This study sought to examine the therapeutic effects of electrophysiological smooth-muscle electrical stimulation in the treatment of lichen-like lesions of the vulva.

Methods: A total of 80 outpatients, who had been confirmed to have vulvar lichen-like lesions by vulvar biopsy at our hospital from November 2016 to March 2018, were prospectively included in this study. The patients received electrophysiology or glucocorticoid therapy. After completing a treatment cycle according to the clinical treatment routine, the outpatients were monitored at 1-, 3- and 6-month intervals. Patients used an improvement scale (i.e., the patient global impression of change scale) to score their subjective perceptions and subjective symptoms. The clinical curative effect scale was used to calculate the curative effect index and grade the curative effect.

Results: After 1 month of treatment, the active enhancement of simple lichen in the electrophysiological treatment group and glucocorticoid treatment group improved, while the active enhancement of simple lichen in the electrophysiological treatment group improved after 3 months of treatment. After 6 months of treatment, the subjective improvement score of the electrophysiological treatment group was better than that of lichen sclerosus. After 3 months of treatment, the effective rate of the electrophysiological therapy group was better than that of the glucocorticoid therapy group. After 6 months of treatment in the electrophysiological treatment group, the efficacy of simple lichen is also better than that of sclerotic lichen.

Conclusions: Conventional hormone therapy is easier for patients to accept because of its convenience and low costs.

Keywords: Chronic simple lichen; electrophysiology therapy; glucocorticoid therapy; sclerosing lichen.