Comparative clinical study of efficacy and safety of adapalene 0.1% gel versus benzoyl peroxide 2.5% gel for the treatment of acne vulgaris

Background: Acne vulgaris is characterised by comedones, papules, pustules and nodules occurring in a sebaceous distribution. Topical treatments, such as adapalene and benzoyl peroxide, are popular in mild to moderate acne vulgaris. This study was aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of adapalene with benzoyl peroxide in the patients of mild to moderate acne vulgaris.Methods: We planned a randomized, open-labelled, prospective study to compare the efficacy and side effects of adapalene and benzoyl peroxide in acne patients. A total of 100 patients with mild to moderate acne vulgaris were included in the study. They were randomly divided into 2 groups with 50 patients in each group. One group was given 0.1% adapalene gel and the other group received 2.5% benzoyl peroxide gel. Efficacy was assessed as reduction in the lesion counts, whereas for safety, the side effects like dryness, burning, irritation, erythema were recorded during the treatment. Total duration of the study was 3 months.Results: The study revealed that adapalene was more effective than benzoyl peroxide in treating non-inflammatory and inflammatory lesions of acne vulgaris, and there was a statistically significant difference found between the groups (p≤0.05) in efficacy. Adapalene was also found to be comparatively safer than benzoyl peroxide because the patients treated with adapalene had lesser side effects than those treated with benzoyl peroxide.Conclusions: Our study concludes a better efficacy and safety of adapalene than benzoyl peroxide in the treatment of mild to moderate acne vulgaris.