OBJECTIVETo study the clinical efficacy of Shufeng Liangxue Decoction (SLD) in treating hormone dependence dermatitis (HDD).

METHODSOne hundred and sixteen patients with HDD were randomly assigned to two groups. Both were treated with symptomatic Western medical therapy, including oral taken of loratadine 10 mg, and intravenous injection of 10% calglucon 10 mL and vitamin C 3.0 g adding in 20 mL 50% glucose, once per day, and to the test group, one dose of SLD consisting of imperata rhizome 30 g, rehmannia root 30 g, moutain bark 15 g, schizonepeta spike 15 g, divaricate saposhnikovia root 10 g, scutellaria root 15 g, forsythia fruit 15 g, cape-jasmine fruit 10 g, red peony root 10 g, white-stiff silkworm 10 g, broom cypress fruit 15 g, Indian bread 15 g and licorice root 10 g, was given every day by decocting with water. The course of treatment was 4 weeks. Symptoms of patients, including redden-swollen skin, capillary dilatation, inflammatory papula, itching and other discomfort sensation (pain, burning, dry, buckled) were scored before and after treatment according to their severity. The efficacy was evaluated by the change in scores of symptoms, the adverse reactions occurring in the therapeutic course and the relapse rate after treatment were observed as well.

RESULTSThe cure-obvious effective rate was 76.32% in the test group and 42.50% in the control group; the total effective rate in them was 94.74% and 77.50% respectively, all showing significant difference (P < 0.05) between groups. In the test group, slight diarrhea appeared in 5 patients and slight nausea with upper abdominal discomfort in 3; while in the control group, slight somnolence appeared in 2, but all these adverse reactions did not affect the treatment. A 3-month follow-up study showed that the relapse rate in the test group was significantly lower than that in the control group (16.00% vs. 42.50% , P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSLD is effective and safe in treating HDD, with the efficacy better and relapse rate lower than those of treatment with Western medicine alone.