Photodynamic therapy in the treatment of symptomatic oral lichen planus: A systematic review

Abstract

Background

The aim of this systematic review was to assess the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of symptomatic oral lichen planus (OLP).

Methods

This systematic review aimed to address the following focused question: "Is PDT effective in the treatment of symptomatic OLP?" Indexed databases; MEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL were searched up to and including August 2017.

Results

Six clinical studies were included. The risk of bias was considered high in five studies and moderate in one study. Parameters of photodynamic therapy such as wavelengths, energy fluence, power density and exposure time ranged between 320-660 nm, 120 J cm⁻², 130 mW cm⁻², and 70-150 s, respectively. The follow up period ranged from 4 to 48 weeks. All included studies reporting clinical scores showed that PDT was effective in the treatment of OLP in adult patients at follow-up. However, PDT did not showed significant improvement when compared with steroid therapy.

Conclusion

PDT appears to have some effect in the symptomatic treatment of OLP in adult patients. However, further randomized controlled trials with long follow-up period, standardized PDT parameters and comparing efficacy of PDT with steroid therapy are warranted to obtain strong conclusions in this regard.

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