Cutaneous leishmaniasis. Treatment with combined cryotherapy and intralesional stibogluconate injection.

A combination of both intralesional stibogluconate injection and superficial cryotherapy (not including the base of the lesion nor the 1-2 mm rim of the surrounding normal skin) was performed in an attempt to improve the therapeutic efficacy of either of the two modalities when used separately in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. This combined therapy resulted in a 100% cure rate in 15 patients with 23 lesions of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Two control groups, one treated with superficial cryo and the other treated with intralesional stibogluconate injection alone were included in the study for evaluation. The results obtained by combined superficial freezing and intralesional stibogluconate injection were much more impressive than those obtained by each of the two modalities when used alone.