Turning the spotlight on lasers

Pelvic floor function around the menopause and how to improve it

“…One of the principal problems was the rapid adoption of a new technique without adequate outcome data; this was encouraged and supported by the device industry without appropriate regulation or standards. The parallels with the current situation we face with vaginal laser therapy are clear, as espoused in the Climacteric Editorial in 2017 4 . There is no such thing as riskfree intervention and, as several of the authors in this edition highlight, it is behoven on all of us to involve our patients in decision-making prior to any intervention to ensure that they are aware of the risks and also any reasonable treatment alternatives.…”

Energy devices in vaginal therapy

“…The existing evidence in each of these conditions varies. For genitourinary syndrome of the menopause (GSM), there is growing evidence of efficacy . Salvatore has shown evidence of benefit using lasers in women with GSM, with further evidence of benefit on histological studies .…”

“…For genitourinary syndrome of the menopause (GSM), there is growing evidence of efficacy. 2 Salvatore has shown evidence of benefit using lasers in women with GSM, [3][4][5][6] with further evidence of benefit on histological studies. 7 Cruz et al, 8 in their double-blind randomised controlled trial (RCT) in women with GSM, compared laser treatment with vaginal estrogen and found that vaginal laser alone or in combination with topical estriol is a good treatment option for vulvovaginal atrophy.…”

The heat is on

“…Three years ago, we wrote an editorial calling for more research on the use of vaginal lasers in gynecology before widespread adoption took hold 1 . Since then, there has been a varied response.…”