Thalidomide in the treatment of erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) in an outpatient setting: A five-year retrospective analysis from a leprosy referral centre in India.

ABSTRACT: Erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL), or type 2 lepra reaction, is a multi-system immune-mediated complication in patients with multibacillary leprosy, frequently associated with chronicity and recurrences. Management of ENL requires high doses of oral corticosteroids, which may not be universally effective and pose serious adverse effects. Thalidomide has proven to be a steroid-sparing agent and is useful in controlling the reactions. However, many centres do not employ it in outpatient settings due to adverse effects and teratogenicity risk. Hence, we studied the feasibility of treating ENLs and reported the therapeutic outcome.This is a five-year record-based analysis of ENL leprosy patients treated with thalidomide, includingdescriptive statistics of demographic variables. Clinical characte

SUBMITTER: Upputuri B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7577491 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature