Alam Zaib, Qamar-ud Din Khan, Asher Ahmad Mashhood, Uzma Naeem.
Comparison between efficacy of CO2 laser alone versus combination of cryotherapy and intralesional meglumine antimoniate in the treatment of cutaneous Leishmaniasis.
J Pak Assoc Derma Jan ;29(1):8-12.

Objective To determine the efficacy of CO 2 laser therapy in comparison to combined cryotherapy and intralesional meglumine antimoniate therapy in the treatment of cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Study Design Randomized controlled trial. Place and duration of Study Department of dermatology CMH Peshawar from April 2016 to April 2017.   Methodology 136 patients between ages of 15 to 60 years with clinically diagnosed cutaneous Leishmaniasis, positive LT bodies in a skin smear or histopathology were included in the study. Patients with symptoms of 1-3 months’ duration were enrolled and two groups were formed. One treated with CO 2 laser and retreated after 04 weeks if required. The second group was treated both with cryotherapy and intralesional meglumine antimoniate injection biweekly for 8 weeks. Clinical assessment for cure was done at 8 th week for both groups. Chi-square test was used to compare the efficacy in both the groups.   Results Mean age in group A was 28.5±4.9 years while in group B it was 29.5±4.8 years. The overall efficacy after 08 weeks in group A patients who had clinical cure was 79.4 % while it was 73.5% in group B. Conclusion CO 2 laser therapy in the treatment of cutaneous Leishmaniasis was found reliable and cost effective in comparison to combined cryotherapy and intralesional meglumine antimoniate therapy with benefit of less procedure work on patients.  

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