CO2-Laser in neurosurgery.

New technical tools in surgery are only beneficial if they offer real improvements compared to the traditional techniques or if they open absolute new indications in surgery. Therefore we have tried to find absolute indications for the use of the indifferent laser system. Due to the specific wavelength the CO2-Laser is entirely absorbed at the surface. This specific performance allows one to use the CO2-Laser as the most precise cutting and as a completely new vaporizing instrument. It has become an irreplaceable tool in surgery of central lesions and brain stem tumours and also for spinal cord tumours. In addition the CO2-Laser is adaptable to the operating microscope. A gain of the same importance in the meantime is the Nd-YAG Laser, which works specially for coagulation, volume coagulation and endoscopic use. It is certain that laser surgery will evolve for beyond our imagination.