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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffDepending on the size and depth of your skin lesions, it can take weeks or months for them to heal. Follow your doctor's instructions carefully regarding wound care. This is especially important because many of the oral medications prescribed for pyoderma gangrenosum suppress your immune system, which increases your risk of infection.
Medications
High doses of corticosteroids, such as prednisone, are the mainstay of pyoderma gangrenosum treatment. Side effects can include thinning bones, weight gain and increased risk of infection. To reduce the amount of prednisone needed, your doctor might recommend that you also take anti-rejection drugs, such as cyclosporine, or medications used more commonly for rheumatoid arthritis.
Surgery
In most cases, surgery isn't a good treatment option because trauma to the skin may worsen existing ulcers or stimulate new ones to develop. But if the ulcers on your skin are large and need help with healing, your doctor might suggest a skin graft — a procedure that surgically attaches a piece of real or artificial skin over the open sores. This is attempted only after the wound inflammation has gone and the ulcer has started healing.
- Goldsmith LA, et al., eds. Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine. 8th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2012. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=740. Accessed Sept. 20, 2012.
- Moschella SL. Neutrophilic dermatoses. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Sept. 20, 2012.
- Habif TP. Clinical Dermatology: A Color Guide to Diagnosis and Therapy. 5th ed. Edinburgh, U.K.; New York, N.Y.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7234-3541-9..X0001-6--TOP&isbn=978-0-7234-3541-9&uniqId=230100505-57. Accessed Sept. 20, 2012.
- Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2013: 5 Books in 1. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-08373-7..00002-9&isbn=978-0-323-08373-7&about=true&uniqId=343863096-23. Accessed Sept. 20, 2012.
- Dabade TS, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of the neutrophilic dermatoses (pyoderma gangrenosum, Sweet's syndrome). Dermatologic Therapy. 2011;24:273.
- Miller J, et al. Pyoderma gagrenosum: A review and update on new therapies. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2010;62:646.
- Gibson LE (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 27, 2012.
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