engleski

ER:YAG laser treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women

Objectives: First assessment of efficacy and safety of Er:YAG laser in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and, as asecondary outcome, impaired sexualgratification in women.The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of a non-invasive laser treatment for mild-to-severe stages of these two conditions. Methods: A prospective, single-center study at Ob/Gyn Clinic, Zagreb, Croatia, recruited 73 female patients suffering from SUI. The procedure was performed with a 2940nm Er:YAG laser (XS Dynamis, Fotona, Slovenia) designed to achieve heating up of vaginal mucosa to around 60◦C, 500–700m in depth. Five parameters were tested at baseline and follow-up visits: ICIQ-UI-SF and PISQ12 scores, residual urine volume and perineometry values (average pressure in mmHg and duration of pressure in seconds). Level of statistical significance was set to P<0.05 and all confidence intervals were given at 95% level. In all instances two-tailed tests of statistical significance were used. Results: At 1st month, and at 2nd–6th month follow-up after laser treatment, all monitored outcomes were statistically significantly different from the baseline. ICIQ-UI score was reduced for 8 points, what is relative reduction of 67% ; P<0.001. PISQ-12 score was increased for 5.5 points, relative increase of 16% ; P<0.001. Duration of contraction was increased statistically significantly for 6.3s (74% relative improvement). Residual urine volume (RUV) was reduced for 2.0ml (67% relatively to the baseline ; P=0.01). No adverse events were noticed. Results from the current study clearly support the observation that one may expect better outcomes in non-obese and younger patients. Conclusions: This study has indicated clinically relevant improvements in all outcomes, as well as improvements in sexual gratification. Er:YAG laser therapy is another possible minimally invasive option for treating premenopausal and postmenopausal women with SUI symptoms.

ER:YAG laser treatment ; stress urinary incontinence (SUI) ; women

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