ABSTRACT
In medicine, benzoyl peroxide is used as a topical treatment for acne, either in combination with antibiotics or as a single agent; it has also been used in burns and for the treatment of leg ulcers. Contact allergy to benzoyl peroxide was common in the 1970s and 1980s, when 20% benzoyl peroxide was used to treat leg ulcers in chronic venous insufficiency. There are several case reports of allergic contact dermatitis due to benzoyl peroxide following topical treatment in acne patients. Results of studies in which groups of selected patients were patch tested with benzoyl peroxide, mostly at 1% pet. In Germany, before 1984, 41 patients with leg ulcers, who had negative patch tests to BP 1%, were treated with 20% benzoyl peroxide lotion for 4 weeks. Sixteen patients with leg ulcers were treated with 10% benzoyl peroxide (BP) gel for 6 weeks, after which they were patch tested with BP 2% pet.
