Treatment of Anogenital Warts in Children

The research that has been conducted for treatment of anogenital warts in children is inconclusive because it is such an uncommon disease in children that have not reached sexual maturity. A number of the topical medications that would be prescribed to deal with anogenital warts may be unsuitable for younger children because their effects are not known. Topical medications are creams and lotions that can be applied to the warts to get rid of them. Both podophyllotoxin and Trichloroacetic acid do not have substantial evidence to deem them safe for use by children so their status is that the medications safety has not been established for children. Imiquimod also follows the same basis for children under the age of 12 but it can be given as a topical treatment for children over the age of 12. A dose of 3.75% is given and should be applied to the warts and left for eight hours before it is washed off.

Physical ablation may be used on children to remove the warts but there are a number of issues to consider and you are best to take your child to the doctor for their advice. Most surgeries to remove anogenital warts are performed under local anaesthetic and so the patient would be awake. However, this could be stressful for a child and they are usually given a general anaesthetic so although they will not remember any of the procedure, their recovery period will be longer.

If a child has juvenile respiratory papillomatosis, they are likely to have to undergo a number of surgeries. The warts are very difficult to treat because they are in the voice box and breathing tract of the child so lotions cannot be applied. Therefore, invasive surgery would have to be carried out in order to reach the warts and remove them so the child is likely to spend a longer amount of time in hospital and they can be quite ill from the surgery. 

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