Therapeutic and Adverse Effects of Glucantime Used for Treatment of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Introduction: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in Iran. Fasa region (Southern west of Iran) is one of the hot spots. The most popular drug for treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis is glucantime.Aims: To study the therapeutic and adverse effects of Glucantime in cutaneous leishmaniasis patients and also comparing the intramuscular and intralesional administration routes.Methods and Material: All new cutaneous leishmaniasis cases (880) that were diagnosed within two years of study were ruled in. Intralesional injection was used for solitary non-facial wounds, for maximum of 10 doses, injected every other day. For multiple lesions or facial lesions, intramuscular injection was performed, in daily manner for maximum of three 10 day periods, apart by 10 days of drug free intervals. Injections were done according to WHO guidelines.Results: The recovery rate was 84.03 % and 75.98% in intramuscular and intralesional injection groups, respectively. The most common side effect was skin hypersensitivity and urticaria, which was more seen in those with intralesional injection (10.92% in comparison with 2.59% in IM group). No cardiac or renal complication was observed.Conclusions: Complete recovery is higher in intramuscular injection compared to intralesional injection of Glucantime for cutaneous leishmaniasis. Side effects are also less seen in the intramuscular injection