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Topical Treatments

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Evidence-Based Psoriasis

Part of the book series: Updates in Clinical Dermatology ((UCD))

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Abstract

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that affects 2–4% of the world’s population. Approximately 80% of psoriasis patients have limited, localized mild-to-moderate disease where topical therapies serve as the mainstay of treatment. Topical therapies can provide both high efficacy as well as safety in this population. Furthermore, in patients with moderate-to-severe disease, short-term topical treatments may provide symptomatic relief, minimize doses of photo- or systemic therapy, and be of benefit for resistant lesions as part of a combination regimen. This chapter provides an evidence-based concise overview of the topical treatments for psoriasis including corticosteroids, vitamin D derivatives, tazarotene, calcineurin inhibitors, anthralin, salicylic acid, coal tar, and lactic acid.

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Jeon, C., Sekhon, S., Bhutani, T., Koo, J. (2018). Topical Treatments. In: Bhutani, T., Liao, W., Nakamura, M. (eds) Evidence-Based Psoriasis. Updates in Clinical Dermatology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90107-7_2

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