Fractional ablative CO ₂ laser followed by topical application of sodium stibogluconate for treatment of active cutaneous leishmaniasis: A randomized controlled trial

Conventional treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis often leaves permanent scars with frequent psychosocial sequelae. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy, safety, associated pain and final cosmetic outcome of fractional carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) laser followed by topical application of sodium stibogluconate vs. sodium stibogluconate injections for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. A total of 181 lesions (20 patients) were randomly assigned to receive intrale-sional injections of sodium stibogluconate (control group) or fractional CO laser treatment followed by 2 topical application of sodium stibogluconate (study group). The visual analogue scale (VAS) score of the control group was much higher than that of the study group (6.85 vs. 3.5, respectively, p < 0.001). Both the patients and 2 blinded dermatologists found the final cosmetic outcome to be superior for laser-treated lesions (p = 0.001 vs. p =0.008 for controls). Fractional CO ₂ laser treatment followed by topical application of sodium stibogluconate is less painful and leads to a better final cosmetic outcome compared with intrale-sional injections of sodium stibogluconate.