A meta-analysis comparing efficacy of continuous terbinafine with intermittent itraconazole for toenail onychomycosis

Toenail onychomycosis is a challenge for clinicians to treat. While both Itraconazole and terbinafine have proven to be effective against onychomycosis, very little is known about their comparative efficacy in achieving mycological and clinical cure.

The purpose of this meta-analysis is to compare the efficacy of continuous terbinafine with intermittent itraconazole in the treatment of toenail onychomycosis.

all RCTs comparing continuous terbinafine with intermittent itraconazole were identified from PUBMED and BIDS electronic database.

analysis of total eight trials including 1181 patients state that treatment with continuous terbinafine is more likely to produce mycological and clinical cure compared to intermittent itraconazole with odds ratio 2.3(95% CI, 1.7 to 3.0 P<0.0001)

though both itraconazole and terbinafine are well tolerated and highly effective drugs, continuous terbinafine is more effective than intermittent itraconazole at achieving mycological cure of toenail onychomycosis.