[Tyrothricin powder in the treatment of cutaneous lesions].

The efficacy and tolerance of an antiseptic wound powder based on the antibiotic tyrothricin was investigated in a prospective, randomized multicenter trial in patients with posttraumatic and surgical cutaneous lesions. In 5 centers, 131 male and female patients from 18-85 years were included with posttraumatic or surgical cutaneous lesions with infection or in danger of infection (area > or = 200 mm2). In a double-blind study, tyrothricin (n = 62; 0.1 g tyrothricin per 100 g of vehicle) or placebo powder (n = 69) was applied to the wound twice daily for 9 days. The primary aim was to evaluate the average daily reduction of the radius from the lesion area between the start and end of the randomized treatment (alpha = 0.025; one-sided). Secondly, a wound index (range 0-15) was calculated from the assessments of rubor, crusting, exudation, pain and functional impairment. The treatment groups were comparable at baseline. During randomized treatment, the radius of the lesions was reduced at an average of 0.55 +/- 0.31 mm/day (mean +/- SD) for tyrothricin and 0.47 +/- 0.30 mm/day for placebo (p = 0.016; one-sided; intention-to-treat data set). The wound index decreased at an average of 4.2 +/- 1.7 and 3.3 +/- 1.9 points for tyrothricin and placebo, respectively (p = 0.0048; one-sided). 4 adverse events occurred in each group. A causal relationship with the investigational drug could not be excluded in 3 of the placebo group. The results confirm the tendency to an acceleration of wound healing by tyrothricin powder (Tyrosur Powder) in case of infection or danger of infection. A superior efficacy compared to placebo was demonstrated. Due to its good tolerability and the absence of a systemic effects tyrothricin powder is appropriate for the treatment of superficial skin lesions.