Efficacy of microwave therapy in the treatment of viral warts: A cross-sectional study from Saudi arabia

Aim: Microwave therapy has emerged as a promising treatment modality for viral warts, showing potential in improving treatment outcomes.Therefore, this study evaluated the safety and efficacy of microwave therapy in the treatment of viral warts.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Alkhibrah Medical Complex in Arar, Saudi Arabia.The study enrolled patients presenting with viral warts and treated with microwave therapy.Data was collected using a standardized data collection form, including age, gender, wart characteristics (size, location, number), treatment response, and recurrence.Results: A total of 30 patients were included in the study.The participants' ages ranged from 6 months to 45 years.Female participants were 16 (53.3%),while 14 (46.7%) were male.The most common anatomical locations of warts were the hands (40.0%).Microwave therapy led to complete wart eradication of 22 patients (73.3%).The number of sessions received by the enrolled cases till successful eradication varied between 2 and 5 sessions.Follow-up data revealed recurrence among only 4 patients (18.2%).There was no effect of the demographic and clinical characteristics on the outcomes and recurrence data.Discussion: Microwave therapy represents a highly effective and convenient option for wart management, particularly for single warts.However, higher recurrence rates in multiple warts underscore the need for further optimization of treatment protocols.Future research should focus on addressing the limitations identified in this study, including the development of standardized protocols and comparative trials.