[Topical corticosteroids in recurrent aphthous stomatitis. Systematic review]

To evaluate the effectiveness of the topical corticosteroids compared to a placebo in shortening the clinical course and recurrence of aphthous stomatitis.

The inclusion criteria and the literature review databases were defined using MEDLINE, Lilacs, SciELO, and EMBASE. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the Jadad scale. The data were then extracted by 2 independent evaluators and an analysis made of the results collected.

The studies showed that, on average, the time for healing the ulcers was shorter when using topical corticosteroids than compared with the placebo. As for evaluating the pain, the results were in favour of active treatment. Nevertheless, the measurement methods were different in the studies. With respect to the recurrences of the ulcers, the results of the studies were not conclusive.

Further studies of better quality are required to be able to obtain valid results that will allow us to make sufficiently reliable decisions to benefit patients, based on the evidence available in the literature.