Clindamycin vs placebo as adjunctive therapy in moderately severe acne

Eighty-three patients with moderately severe acne were entered into a double-blind study utilizing clindamycin and placebo. Counts of comedones and pustules were made at intervals during a 13-week period. Clindamycin resulted in noticeable improvement of acne in 85% of subjects while in the placebo group improvement was present in 38%. There was also an unexplained reduction of total comedone count in the clindamycin-treated group. Severe side effects occurred in two of 44 patients receiving clindamycin (diarrhea, 1 and rash, 1); although an additional eight patients receiving clindamycin experienced mild diarrhea, discontinuation of therapy was not required. Clindamycin appears to be a valuable additional drug in the treatment of acne.