Comparison of topical clindamycin phosphate, benzoyl peroxide, and a combination of the two for the treatment of acne vulgaris.
Patients with moderate to severe acne vulgaris were treated for 10 weeks with either topical clindamycin phosphate (1% solution) twice daily, benzoyl peroxide (5% gel) twice daily, or benzoyl peroxide (5% gel) in the morning and clindamycin phosphate (1% solution) in the evening. The effects of each regimen appeared to vary in decreasing specific types of acne lesions, with the combination therapy showing the greatest decrease when all types of lesions were considered. Cutaneous side-effects were greatest with benzoyl peroxide alone during the early weeks of treatment, while the combination therapy displayed no greater incidence of redness, scaling, or itching than clindamycin phosphate alone. All three regimens produced clinical improvements which did not differ significantly from each other.