Emollient Use Helps Reduce Symptoms of Atopic Dermatitis

Regular use of emollients relieves symptoms of atopic dermatitis (AD) in children with mild to moderate AD, according to the results of an international, multisite, randomized, parallel group, open-label study published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Investigators collaborated across 5 countries (France, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania) and 27 centers to gather data from children with AD. Patients were recruited during a flare and treated with topical corticosteroids. 

On resolution of the flare, patients were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups (1:1:1) for a 12-week treatment regimen of V0034CR emollient, reference emollient, or no emollient. Physicians and parents assessed symptom severity regularly using Scoring for Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD; physicians), patient-oriented SCORAD (PO-SCORAD), and patient-oriented eczema measure (parents).

The clinical sample included 335 children (ages 2 to 6 years) randomly assigned to V0034CR emollient (n=111), reference emollient (n=116), or no emollient (n=108). Of these patients, 316 completed the study and 19 were withdrawn.

Following the 12-week treatment period, SCORAD scores were 5.28 points lower in the V0034CR group and 3.36 points lower in the reference emollient group compared with the no emollient group, which had a 4-point increase (P <.0001 for both comparisons). PO-SCORAD was reduced by 4.88 in the V0034CR group and by 2.67 points in the reference emollient group compared with the no emollient group, which showed a 2.90-point increase (P <.001). Patient-oriented eczema measure scores followed the same pattern.

All scores in both treatment groups decreased continuously over the treatment period, and some patients had complete remission of AD by the end of the study, with the highest percentage of those with disease remission in the V0034CR group (59.5%), followed by the reference emollient group (44.3%) and the no emollient group (29.8%; P <.0001). 

The researchers concluded that continuous treatment with emollient maximizes clinical benefit and should be considered as a first-line-treatment for pediatric AD.

Disclosures: Funding for the study was provided by Pierre Fabre, Paris, France. Several authors declare affiliations with Pierre Fabre.

Reference

Tiplica, GS, Boralevi F, Konno P, et al. The regular use of an emollient improves symptoms of atopic dermatitis in children: a randomized controlled study [published March 9, 2018]. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. doi:10.1111/jdv.14849