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Precise laser incision of urethral and ureteral strictures |
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Urethral and bladder neck strictures may occur after prostate cancer surgery, resulting in urinary incontinence. Conventional treatments for stricture (including balloon dilation, cold knife incision, electrocautery, and Holmium laser incision) have widely variable success rates with sub-optimal long-term results. The failure of these conventional stricture treatments is presumably due to mechanical and/or thermal damage to the urethral wall during the procedure. The Erbium:YAG laser is capable of precisely incising the urethral stricture with minimal peripheral damage to adjacent healthy tissue. The minimal side-effects caused during Erbium laser incision should translate into limited scarring and improved procedural success rates.
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Recent Publications |
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Munoz JA, Riemer JD, Hayes GB, Negus D, Fried NM. Er:YAG laser incision of urethral strictures: early clinical results. Photonic Therapeutics and Diagnostics III 64241:F:1-4 (SPIE, San Jose, 2007).
Varkarakis IM, Inagaki T, Allaf ME, Chan TY, Rogers CG, Wright EJ, Fried NM. Comparison of Erbium:YAG and Holmium:YAG lasers for incision of the urethra and bladder neck in a chronic porcine model. Urology 65(1):191-195, 2005.
Fried NM, Tesfaye Z, Ong AM, Rha KH, Hejazi P. Optimization of the erbium:YAG laser for precise incision of ureteral and urethral tissues: in vitro and in vivo results. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine 33:108-114, 2003.
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