Combined cryotherapy/70% salicylic acid treatment for plantar verrucae

Although common, warts are inconsistently treated by any single method. The authors present a review of the literature for various treatments with regard to the methodology and success rate of each treatment modality. The authors also present a therapeutic regimen of combined cryotherapy/ 70% salicylic acid. This treatment involves in-office application of the cryogenic agent and daily application of 70% salicylic acid by the patient. The cryotherapy was combined with daily patient application of salicylic acid to increase destruction of the verruca. In a study of 29 patients with 65 warts, the authors found this method successful in 58 warts in 25 patients, showing a 89.2% rate of eradication of verrucae in 86.2% of patients. The method is recommended due to its consistent efficacy in the patient population, and its relatively gentle and noninvasive approach.