West of Scotland Formulary
NHS Scotland

Genital warts

The regional formulary will not cover all eventualities for infections medicines choices. As with any condition; patient specific factors and sensitivities need to be considered. Please consider this regional formulary advice alongside any relevant local Board guidelines.

Treatment of genital warts

Podophyllotoxin as detailed below, or liquid nitrogen applied every 2-3 weeks.

Podophyllotoxin
Podophyllotoxin 0.15% cream

Applied every 12 hours for 3 consecutive days, followed by 4 days of no treatment; repeated at weekly intervals if necessary for a total of 4-5 courses depending on product used.

Imiquimod
Imiquimod 5% cream 250mg sachets

Apply 3 times a week until lesions resolve (maximum 16 weeks), to be applied thinly at night.

Catephen
Catephen 10% ointment

(Camellia Sinensis) Apply up to 250mg ointment as total single dose, corresponding to about 0.5cm ointment strand applied 3 times a day until complete clearance of warts (maximum 16 weeks), do not exceed treatment period even if new warts develop; maximum 750mg total daily dose.

Prescribing Notes:

  • For small numbers of discrete warts liquid nitrogen is an alternative to podophyllotoxin and could be administered every 2-3 weeks.
  • With any genital symptoms consider a sexually transmitted infection (STI) test including chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis.

History Notes

30/07/2026

Regional formulary chapter launched.