Background and Objective: Primary hyperhidrosis (PHH), is an idiopathic disorder, characterized by excessive uncontrollable sweating in the hands, armpits, groin, feet and face. Various methods such as injection of Botulinum Toxin Type A (BTX-A) which is associated with severe pain during injection and also muscle weakness for hyperhidrosis treatment have been suggested. Delivering the BTX-A via iontophoresis is shown to be a noninvasive treatment with the minimum side effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of efficacy and persistency of iontophoresis of BTX-A on the patients with palmar PHH. Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study eight patients which were suffering from palmar PHH (aged 19-26 years) were treated with iontophoresis of BTX-A on patient’s dominant hand and the other hand was treated with iontophoresis of normal saline as control. Gravimetric and iodine-starch tests were performed to evaluate sweating quantity and muscle strength was assessed by grip and thumb-index pinch tests. Treatment evaluation sessions were at baseline and at 2 and 4 days and also 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after treatment. Results: Our results showed that, the mean of sweating rate on dominant hand was significantly reduced at 1 week (p=0.03), 3 weeks (0.01), 1 month (p=0.02), 2 months (p=0.03) and 3 months (p=0.02) post treatment and on control (nondominant) hand 3 weeks (p=0.02) and one month later (p=0.04) after the treatment. There was also reduction in sweating at the other sessions but was not significant. The muscle weakness was not observed in none of the investigated patients. Conclusion: The results suggest that iontophoresis of BTX-A can induces significant reduction in hand sweating rate which was lasted for 3 months and in contrary to the injection method had no pain or side effects such as muscle weakness. Key words: Hyperhidrosis, Botulinum Toxin, Iontophoresis, Hand Funding: This research was funded by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Conflict of interest: None declared. Ethical approval: The Ethics Committee of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences approved the study.

Keywords: Hyperhidrosis, Botulinum Toxin, Iontophoresis, Hand

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