A novel laser treatment of ureteral and urethral stricture

Abstract

Our purpose is to develop simple, safe and effective laser treatments for the ureteral and urethral strictures without recurrent stenosis. We reviewed the current laser treatments. To decrease risk of the post operative stenosis, we investigated a proper laser treatment for stenosis of ureter of urethra, comparing the ablation characteristics of a pulsed Ho: YAG laser with that of a continuous uv Ar laser using canine ureter in vitro. The histological examination revealed that the thermally coagulated layer by Ho: YAG laser was thinner than uv Ar laser, although ablation efficiency of the Ho: YAG laser was lower than that of uv Ar laser. The results indicated the usefulness of Ho: YAG laser because of preventing the post operative stenosis due to the minimum coagulation. We developed a novel multi-fiber catheter which can be introduced into the ureter with easy procedure. The canine ureteral stricture was successfully ablated circumferentially by ultraviolet argon laser irradiation through the multi-fiber catheter, The treated ureter was kept open for 11 weeks after ablation. The laser treatments with our new multi-fiber catheter may be useful for the ureteral and urethral strictures.