A Trial of Pentoxifylline for the Treatment of Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis

This is a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled trial of the use of pentoxifylline (oxpentifylline) for the treatment of recurrent mouth ulcers.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

There are few effective treatments for recurrent aphthous stomatitis (cancer sores, recurrent mouth ulcers). Most existing treatments are palliative topical treatments. Some systemic drugs e.g. steroids and thalidomide can suppress the recurrence of mouth ulcers but have serious long term side effects. Pentoxifylline (also known as oxpentifylline) has been used systemically for many years to treat peripheral vascular disease and has a good side effect profile. It shares several actions with thalidomide but does not share its serious side effects. Furthermore, some small scale, open label clinical studies have indicated it may be very effective in treating recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). This study enrolled patients with RAS for which no underlying cause could be identified. Patients kept a diary of the pattern of their mouth ulcers for 60 days to confirm the pattern of ulceration and provide baseline data. Those still qualified for the study were then randomized to treatment with pentoxifylline 400mg three times daily or an identical placebo tablet three times daily for a further 60 days during which they continued to keep a daily ulcer diary. At the end of this period, treatment was stopped and they kept the daily ulcer diary for a further 60 days to identify if any benefit from the treatment was continued after ceasing treatment.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Manchester, United Kingdom, M15 6FH
        • University Dental Hospital of Manchester

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

16 years to 65 years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis
  • 2 or more mouth ulcers per month for more than 6
  • No current treatment for oral ulceration or willing to stop treatment
  • Age 16 to 65 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Taking ketorolac, theophylline or anti-hypertensive medication except diuretics (contra-indicated in patients treated with pentoxifylline)
  • Systemic diseases that contra-indicate the use of pentoxifylline i.e. pregnancy, hypotension, ischaemic heart disease, acute myocardial infarction, cerebral or occular hemorrhage, renal or hepatic failure, porphyria or allergy to pentoxifylline.
  • Patients with an underlying deficiency state or systemic disease that could cause recurrent mouth ulcers e.g. iron, vitamin B12 or foliate deficience, coeliac disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, Behcet's disease or Aids.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Reduction in the median pain score
Reduction in the median ulcer size
Reduction in the median ulcer number
Reduction in the total number of episodes of ulceration (RAS)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Change in global ulcer severity score
Increase in the proportion of ulcer free days
Difference in the proportion of ulcer free days (comparing trial v baseline)
Side effect incidence
Side effect type

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Martin H Thornhill, MBBS, BDS, University of Sheffield School of Clinical Dentistry

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

June 1, 1996

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 1, 1998

Study Completion (Actual)

November 1, 1998

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 18, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 18, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

April 19, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 3, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 1, 2018

Last Verified

August 1, 2018

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis

Clinical Trials on Pentoxifylline (also known as oxpentifylline)

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