Female pelvic floor disorders, including female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or sexual dysfunction are notorious for affecting the quality of women's life. It is reported that laser therapy might result in collagen remodeling and improvement in tissue firmness. The study was conducted to evaluate the short-term outcome of female pelvic floor disorders treated by laser therapy.
Women with self-reported symptoms of female pelvic floor disorders (limited to SUI and sexual dysfunction) were included in the study. The participants were treated with the Er:YAG laser or the fractional microablative carbon dioxide (CO2) laser system. The therapeutic effect was focused on SUI symptoms and sexual dysfunction.
There were 31 women underwent laser treatment, including 21 patients treated with Erbium:YAG laser and 10 treated with CO2 laser. In the Erbium:YAG laser group, International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire - Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ- SF) scores were dropped from 8.25 ± 5.66 to 5.00 ± 3.99 (P = 0.007); and in the CO2 laser group, scores were dropped from 11.11 ± 6.85 to 6.44 ± 4.25 (P = 0.035), contributing to the drop of ICI-Q-SF scores from 9.14 ± 6.08 to 5.45 ± 4.05 for all enrolled patients (P = 0.001). However, objective measure using pad test did not show a statistically significant difference between before and after treatment (from 3.20 ± 5.84 g to 1.54 ± 3.18 g, P = 0.224). Sexual dysfunction was improved in 13 patients (44.83%), but Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) scores were not different before and after laser treatment (44.22 ± 23.36 vs. 44.09 ± 24.51, P = 0.389).
Laser therapy either by Erbium:YAG laser or CO2 laser seemed to be useful for female pelvic floor disorders, especially on improvement of SUI symptoms; however, the effectiveness needs further confirmation.
Taiwanese journal of obstetrics & gynecology. 2018 Dec [Epub]
Hsin-Yin Lin, Hsiao-Wen Tsai, Kuan-Hao Tsui, Ya-Fen An, Ching-Chuan Lo, Zi-Han Lin, Wen-Shiung Liou, Peng-Hui Wang
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Biological Science, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Pharmacy and Master Program, College of Pharmacy and Health Care, Tajen University, Pingtung County, Taiwan., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan., School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: .