Other nonsurgical interventions

Nonsurgical approaches have been studied because of the physical and psychosexual morbidity associated with many vulvar surgical procedures. Some of these approaches, including topical fluorouracil, recombinant interferon gamma, bleomycin, and trinitrochlorobenzene, have been largely abandoned because of high recurrence rates or intolerable local side effects, such as pain, irritation, and ulceration.[8,16]

Photodynamic therapy, using topically applied 5-aminolevulinic acid as the sensitizing agent for 635 nm laser light, has also been studied. However, data are limited to small case series with variable response rates.[17,18][Level of evidence C3]