New study comparing dimeticone with permethrin

New study results have been recently published of a randomly controlled trial comparing 4% dimeticone liquid gel with 1% permethrin creme.

The study by Burgess et al., published in April 2013 in BMC Dermatology, found that the dimeticone gel was superior to permethrin, and advise the withdrawal of permethrin treatment.

This study tested a single fifteen-minute application of Hedrin 4% dimeticone liquid gel against two ten-minute applications of 1% permethrin creme rinse. Randomisation of the participants in the trial was per-family, in order to avoid reinfestation from lice as a result of less-effective treatments. There were 80 individuals involved in the per-protocol study.

Success rates on an intention-to-treat comparison were 70% for dimeticone and 15% for permethrin. Analysis on a per-protocol comparison were 77% for dimeticone and 16% for permethrin. These results were significant at p < 0.001.