[Glucantime injection: benefit versus toxicity].

Glucantime is the most common stibied derivative used to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Tunisia; however adverse effects have been reported.

OBJECTIVE

This retrospective study deals with the various adverse of intramuscular glucantime used for CL.

RESULTS

Nineteen patients (21%) receiving intramuscular Glucantime developed adverse effects. 8 male and 11 female patients, mean age 45, ranging from 8 to 84 years were affected. adverse effects were: fever (3), arthralgia and myalgia (4), nausea and vomiting (2), erythema nodosum (1), acute renal failure (3 including 1 lethal case), hepatic cytolysis (1), skin rash (4), and inflammation of the injection site (1).

CONCLUSIONS

Adverse effects of intramuscular Glucantime were relatively frequent in our series. Arthralgia, myalgia, and skin rash were not severe and disappeared when the treatment was stopped. Stibiointoxication cases, mainly acute renal failure, were serious.