Acute lipodermatosclerosis: an open clinical trial of stanozolol in patients unable to sustain compression therapy

Acute lipodermatosclerosis (ALDS) is a painful counterpart of chronic lipodermatosclerosis (LDS) resulting from venous insufficiency. Severe pain is the leading symptom and many patients with ALDS are unable to tolerate compression therapy. We evaluated clinical efficacy of stanozolol (2 mg bid for 8 weeks) for the reduction of pain and dermal-thickness in 17 patients with ALDS. All patients had superficial venous insufficiency documented by duplex scans, and in all of them incompetent perforators were found under the area of ALDS. Mean pain scores prior to institution of stanozolol (7+/-2; range 4-10) lowered significantly at the end of the 8-week treatment (3+/-2; range 0-5, p<0.001). Dermal thickness was also significantly reduced (p<0.01) over the treatment period. Side effects were not noted. Stanozolol, given over 8 weeks, effectively and safely alleviates pain and reduces dermal thickness in patients with ALDS.