Comparison of estrogen and betamethasone in the topical treatment of labial adhesions in prepubertal girls.

BACKGROUND/AIM To compare estrogen and betamethasone in the topical treatment of labial adhesions in prepubertal girls. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this retrospective study, we evaluated 39 girls with labial adhesions covering at least 50% of the vaginal opening. Of the total patients, 20 were treated with a topical estrogen preparation, while the remaining 19 patients were treated with a combination of betamethasone cream and petroleum ointment (Vaseline) for 3 to 9 weeks. RESULTS Sixteen of 20 (80%) patients in the estrogen treatment group were treated successfully with topical estrogen cream only, and 17 of 19 (89.4%) patients in the second group were treated successfully with a combination of betamethasone cream and petroleum ointment. Two patients (2/20) in the estrogen treatment group underwent a surgical procedure for the manual separation of the labial adhesion. One patient (1/19) treated with betamethasone cream and petroleum ointment required a manual separation procedure. We observed a side effect of labial enlargement in 2 patients (10%) who were treated with estrogen only, while the only side effect of the betamethasone treatment was local irritation, which occurred in a single patient (5.2%). In addition, the success rate of the betamethasone treatment exceeded that of the topical estrogen (89.4% and 80%, respectively). CONCLUSION Betamethasone cream with petroleum ointment is a safe and effective primary therapy for prepubertal labial adhesions.