Therapy Insight: pyoderma gangrenosum - old disease, new management

Well-designed studies that help guide physicians to apply the optimal therapeutic strategy for the management of pyoderma gangrenosum are lacking in the literature. A multidisciplinary approach is paramount for the effective management of this condition, with close involvement of a wound-care specialist and a microbiologist. Treatment should be stepwise in nature. Local wound care, avoidance of trauma and the application of local steriod or tacrolimus ointment are the first-line treatments. Steriod therapy is the most widely published effective therapy for achieving resolution of pyoderma gangrenosum, although there is growing evidence for the efficacy of infliximab in refractory cases. Other therapies such as dapsone and clofazamine should be left as third-line agents for refractory pyoderma gangrenosum, while novel treatments such as granulocyte apheresis should only be used under trial conditions, to gain an objective evaluation of their efficacy. This article reviews the published treatment strategies in current use, and aims to guide the effective management of pyoderma gangrenosum.