Adalimumab versus Rifampicin Plus Clindamycin for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A Retrospective Study

In the present single-center retrospective study, we investigated our data to evaluate the efficacy of the classic antibiotic combination (rifampicin and clindamycin) compared to adalimumab treatment in patients affected by moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa. Disease severity and quality of life were registered using the modified Sartorious score and Hidradisk, respectively. Data were collected before starting treatment (T0) and after ten weeks of therapy (T10). The Mann-Whitney test was used to calculate statistical differences between baseline and week 10. P values less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. A spearman test was used to evaluate the correlation among the parameters under study. Thirty patients (20 females, 10 males; mean age, 23.73 ± 4.57) were given the antibiotics: instead of starting the treatment by combining the two antibiotics, we recommend patients to start the therapy taking only rifampicin 300 mg twice a day for 7 days, and after the first week, to add clindamycin at a dose of 300 mg twice a day. The mean modified Sartorius Score before starting treatment was 68.8 while the value at week 10 was 57.8 (P equals 0.0052). The mean Hidradisk value before starting treatment was 74,73 while the value at week 10 was 62 (P equals 0.0095). Ten patients (10/30) achieved the HiSCR. On the other hand, thirty subjects (22 females, 8 males; mean age, 26.2±7.25) were treated with subcutaneous injections of adalimumab (160 mg at baseline, 80 mg at week 2, 40 mg at week 4, and 40 mg weekly thereafter). The mean modified Sartorius Score before starting treatment was 74.93 while the value at week 10 was 39.86 (P less than 0.0001). The mean Hidradisk value before starting treatment was 77.73 while the value at week 10 decreased to 51.86 (P less than 0.0001). Eighteen patients (18/30) achieved the HiSCR. J Drugs Dermatol. 2019;18(5):437-438.