Efficacy of pentavalent antimoniate intralesional infiltration therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis: A systematic review.

The mainstays of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) treatment, in several world regions, are pentavalent antimony (Sbv) compounds administered parenterally, despite their recognized toxicity, which requires frequent laboratory monitoring and complicates their use in areas with scarce infrastructure. As result of these drawbacks, the WHO Expert Committee on leishmaniasis has expanded the recommendations for the use of local therapies, including Sbv intralesional infiltration (IL-Sbv), as CL therapy alternatives even in the New World. However, the efficacy of these approaches has never been compiled. The aim of this study was to critically and systematically assess the efficacy of IL-Sbv for CL treatment.