CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS - SCHEDULES FOR INTRALESIONAL TREATMENT WITH SODIUM STIBOGLUCONATE

Background. Various therapeutic modalities have been used for treating cutaneous leishmaniasis. Intralesional pentavalent antimonial injecti on is one of the effective therapeutic modalities. In this study, the efficacy of three different intralesional schedules with sodium stibog luconate have been investigated.Methods. Ninety-six patients with 129 lesions were entered into the study, all with confirmed diagnosis of c utaneous leishmaniasis. The lesions were treated with three different schedules, including daily, alternate day, and weekly interlesional in jections of sodium stibogluconate. The clinical response was then comp ared to arrive at the most effective schedule. Results. The clinical r esponses (complete and partial cure) were 67%, 97%, and 91% for the da ily, alternate-day, and weekly schedules, respectively. Lesions with e ither partial cure or failure of treatment were injected weekly with t he same medication until complete cure had been achieved. The final ov erall success rate of complete cure was 99.2%. Conclusions. Alternate day or weekly intralesional treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis with sodium stibogluconate are more effective than daily treatments.