Endoscopic applications of laser therapy.

Lasers have provided a new surgical tool that has several distinct advantages: It is effective at a distance ("no-touch" technique). It can cut, coagulate, and vaporize depending on the wavelength, energy, and tissue characteristics. Laser energy can be carried through flexible fibers and so can be used in previously inaccessible sites. Endoscopic laser surgery can now be successfully used for control of bleeding, palliation of obstructing tumors, detection in microscopic stages, and possibly as definitive treatment of small malignant tumors. The indications for the use of lasers and their successful application will undoubtedly increase in the near future.