© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
Philip M. Hanno, Jørgen Nordling, David R. Staskin, Alan J. Wein and Jean Jacques Wyndaele (eds.)Bladder Pain Syndrome – An Evolutionhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61449-6_3030. Treatment of Interstitial Cystitis with the Neodymium YAG Laser: A Swedish View
(1)
Department of Urology, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, SE-41345 Göteborg, Sweden
Shanberg et al. [1] were the first to use the YAG laser for BPS/IC. Based on observations in five patients they stated that treatment should be limited to those who are positively diagnosed and have failed more conservative forms of therapy. The results did not seem as beneficial for patients with intractable pain and signs of glomerulations only (at this time phenotyping was not part of the clinical routines). Rofeim et al. [2] presented a more recent prospective series of 24 patients with classic interstitial cystitis who had failed medical treatment, subjected to ablative therapy of their Hunner lesions by means of Nd:YAG laser. The power setting was 15 W. with a firing duration of between 1 and 3 s. All patients had symptom improvement within 2–3 days, including significantly decreased pain and urgency as well as substantial increase of voiding interval. There were no complications. Mean follow-up was 23 months, retreatment required in 11 patients. The re-treatment response was similar to the initial treatment.