Short time outcomes of H. Pylori treatment in oral lichen planus patients- A prospective study

Abstract

Background: Oral lichen planus is a chronic inflammatory condition while the relationship between helicobacter pylori and oral lichen planus lesions has been confirmed. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection on the improvement of lichen planus lesions. Materials and Methods:

In this cohort study, 51 patients with erosive or ulcerative oral lichen planus lesions who had been referred to the Oral & Maxillofacial Medicine Department of Tabriz Dentistry faculty were examined in terms of Helicobacter pylori infection using the HpSA test. Finally, 42 patients were able to finish the study period. Lichen planus patients were divided into three groups according to the test results and acceptance or non-acceptance of Helicobacter pylori treatment. The first group consisted of 12 patients who had lichen planus and their Helicobacter pylori test was negative. The second group was 21 patients who were positive for Helicobacter pylori and received treatment with the four-drug regimen, and the third group was 9 patients who were positive for Helicobacter pylori but did not want to treat this infection. All three mentioned groups received the common lichen plan treatment. The patients of the second and third groups were re-evaluated by the HpSA test two months after the common lichen planus treatment. Severity index (SI), Efficacy index (EI) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were used to evaluate the clinical improvement of all three groups before and after treatment. The sample size was determined using Power & Sample Size software and all analyzes were performed using SPSS version 26 statistical software. P-value<0.05 was considered significant in all tests.

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RESULTS:

According to the results of the study, both the Severity index and Pain scores were affected by the intervention (P <0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that the Severity index before treatment had a significant impact on the results (OR 0.745 (95% CI 0.602-0.923; P=0.007)). There are not any statistically significance for factors affecting the other variables (P >0.05).

DISCUSSION:

According to the results of this research, Helicobacter pylori treatment has an effect on pain intensity based on VAS, and this treatment can also affect EI or the complete healing of lesions. Therefore, it is possible to suggest the presence or absence of Helicobacter pylori infection in lichen planus patients who have very high pain intensity or are resistant to treatment.