The Efficacy of Hyaluronic Acid Gel in Pain Control of Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis

This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of topical hyaluronic acid gel (HA) and compared with triamcinolone acetonide pomad (TA) in the treatment and pain control of RAS. A total of 57 patients with a history of RAS and currently suffering from oral ulcer were selected from patients referred to clinic. The subjects randomly divided into two groups; one group have received HA gel (Aftamed® Oral gel, AktiFarma. Istanbul, Turkey) the other group conceived TA pomade, (Kenacort-A Orabase® Pomade, 0,1% Triamsinolon acetonide, Bristol-Myers Squibb Ilacları Inc. Istanbul, Turkey). All patients were instructed to apply the agents to the ulcer 4 times per day for 7 days (day 0 to day 6). To evaluate pain level, a visual analog scale (VAS) was used. Although there was no statistical difference between two groups by means of mean ulcer VAS scores (8.57±1.05 in HA group and 8.59±1.08 in TA group) at day 0, significant differences were found at day 4 (VAS score=4.88±0.83 in HA group and 5.82±1.07 in TA group) and day 7 (VAS score=2.30±0.90 in HA group and 3.07±0.97 in TA group). The ulcer pain score (VAS) of two groups decreased within time however, the pain score in HA group was statistically lower than that of the TA groups at day 4 and 7 (p<0.05). HA gel reduced the painfull symptoms of RAS when compared with TA pomad. These outcomes suggest that HA gel can be effectively used for pain control in RAS treatment.