EC Gynaecology

Introduction

For the last 15 years, the use of intravaginal lasers has become popular for the treatment of certain conditions that affect this organ [1,2]. These are stress urinary incontinence (SUI) [3,4], vaginal atrophy (VA) and symptomatic vaginal hyperlaxity (VHL) [5]. Many times these three conditions are present in the same patient and they can be treated at the same time with this method. Although the gold standard treatment for SUI is currently the midurethral tape, we cannot ignore that this effective treatment also presents complications in up to 2 - 3% and a failure rate of even 7% and that many patients, when informed, seek to treat this condition with a minimally invasive hopefully non-surgical therapy. On the other hand, VA is an almost physiological condition of aging that, if untreated, produces a severe deterioration in quality of life. Although VA is preferably treated with topical estrogens, there are patients in whom this method does not respond or have a history of breast cancer that contraindicates the use of these [6].

1. Adrian Gaspar MD., et al. “Vaginal fractional CO₂ laser: A minimally invasive option for vaginal rejuvenation”. American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery3 (2011): 156-162.
2. Vizintin Z., et al. “Novel minimally invasive VSP ER. Yag laser treatment in gynecology”. Journal of the Laser and Health Academy 1 (2012): 46-58.
3. Pardo JI., et al. “Treatment of female stress urinary incontinence with Erbium-YAG laser in non-ablative mode”. European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology 204 (2016): 1-4.
4. J Pardo., et al. “Hybrid fractional laser on female stress urinary incontinence”. Journal of Women's Health and Gynecology 1 (2022): 556101.
5. Gaviria JE and Lanz JA. “Laser vaginal tightening evaluation of a novel non invasive laser treatment for vaginal relaxation syndrome”. Journal of the Laser and Health Academy 1 (2012): 59-66.
6. Lisieux de Lourdes Martins Nóbrega Pessoa., et al. “Efficacy and safety of laser therapy for the treatment of genitourinary syndrome of menopause: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials”. Frontiers in Reproductive Health 3 (2021): 772690.
7. Pardo., et al. “Absence of complications with the use of non ablative and hybrid semi ablative erbium/diode vaginal laser: experience after 9 years”. Journal of the Laser and Health Academy 1.1-3 (2022).