Current and emerging nonsurgical treatment options for hidradenitis suppurativa

Several nonsurgical strategies for managing hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are used that are successful in many patients. The overall goals of pharmacologic therapy are to clear or reduce the number and extent of current lesions and to prevent new lesions from forming. No pharmacologic agent is universally effective in all patients with HS, and, to date, none has been approved for this indication by the US Food and Drug Administration. Among the agents most commonly used are topical and systemic antibiotics and intralesional and systemic corticosteroids. Within the past decade, clinical experience with biologic agents-principally, tumor necrosis factor inhibitors-has been described, and the results of clinical trials with these agents in patients with HS have been promising.