Low-cost thermotherapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sindh, Pakistan

To study the efficacy of a low-cost heating pack device used for thermotherapy in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

The study was conducted at the Department of Dermatology, Civil Hospital Sukkur, Pakistan, from April 20, 2012, to January 3, 2013. Thermotherapy with Hand-Held Exothermic Crystallisation Therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis was performed on each lesion of the participating subjects at an average initial temperature of 51.6°C for 3 minutes daily for 7 days. Patients were followed regularly for 6 months after the therapy. SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis.

Even though all 27 patients completed 1 week of thermotherapy, only 23(85.2%) patients could be evaluated for full treatment response since 4(14.8%) were lost to complete follow-up. By the final 180-day evaluation, 19 (83%) patients had been cured. Applications were well tolerated with no side effects.

The devise was a convenient, safe, non-toxic and effective treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis at a fraction of the cost of standard antimonial treatment. Further studies are needed to certify its safety and efficacy as monotherapy for the condition.