Prodromidou Anastasia, Zacharakis Dimitrios, Athanasiou Stavros, Kathopoulis Nikolaos, Varthaliti Antonia, Douligeris Athanasios, Michala Lina, Athanasiou Veatriki, Salvatore Stefano, Grigoriadis Themos
1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Alexandra Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11528 Athens, Greece.
Medicine, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton BN1 9PX, UK.
J Pers Med. 2023 Dec 8;13(12):1694. doi: 10.3390/jpm13121694.
In the context of the menopausal transition, genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) refers to a range of genitourinary symptoms, from vaginal dryness to dysuria and urinary urgency. While hormonal treatments are standard, their associated side effects have driven the exploration of alternatives like vaginal CO laser. We aimed to evaluate the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing vaginal CO laser treatment for GSM to sham controls. This systematic review sourced four electronic databases until June 2023. The analysis incorporated seven RCTs with 407 women. The CO laser and sham control were comparable for most parameters, including the female sexual function index (FSFI) and visual analogue scale (VAS) for dyspareunia, vaginal health index, pH, and patient satisfaction. However, the CO laser group showed significant improvement in the vaginal assessment scale for GSM symptoms. Sensitivity analyses revealed that parameters like FSFI showed significant differences in favor of CO laser group upon the exclusion of specific studies. In conclusion, vaginal CO laser therapy emerges as a promising alternative for GSM management, especially for most bothersome GSM symptoms; however, the need for further well-designed RCTs remains to validate its broad safety and efficacy.
在更年期过渡的背景下,更年期泌尿生殖综合征(GSM)指一系列泌尿生殖症状,从阴道干燥到排尿困难和尿急。虽然激素治疗是标准治疗方法,但其相关副作用促使人们探索如阴道CO2激光等替代方法。我们旨在评估比较阴道CO2激光治疗GSM与假对照的随机对照试验(RCT)。该系统评价检索了截至2023年6月的四个电子数据库。分析纳入了七项RCT,涉及407名女性。CO2激光组和假对照组在大多数参数上具有可比性,包括女性性功能指数(FSFI)、性交困难视觉模拟量表(VAS)、阴道健康指数、pH值和患者满意度。然而,CO2激光组在GSM症状的阴道评估量表上有显著改善。敏感性分析显示,排除特定研究后,FSFI等参数显示出有利于CO2激光组的显著差异。总之,阴道CO2激光治疗成为GSM管理的一种有前景的替代方法,特别是对于最困扰的GSM症状;然而,仍需要进一步设计良好的RCT来验证其广泛的安全性和有效性。