Complication and recurrence rate in laser CO2 versus traditional surgery in the treatment of Bartholin’s gland cyst

PURPOSE: The treatment of Bartholin's gland cysts by traditional surgery is characterized by some disadvantages and complications such as hemorrhage, postoperative dyspareunia, infections, necessity for a general anesthesia. Contrarily, CO2 laser surgery might be less invasive and more effective as it solves many problems of traditional surgery. The aim of our study is to describe CO2 laser technique evaluating its feasibility, complication rate and results vs traditional surgery. METHODS: Among patients treated for Bartholin's gland cyst, we enrolled 62 patients comparing traditional surgical excision vs CO2 laser surgery of whom 27 patients underwent traditional surgery, whereas 35 patients underwent CO2 laser surgery. Mean operative time, complication rate, recurrence rate and short- and long-term outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: The procedures required a mean operative time of 9 ± 5.3 min for CO2 laser surgery and 42.2 ± 13.8 for traditional surgery. Two patients (5.7 %) needed an hemostatic suture for intraoperative bleeding in the laser CO2 laser technique against 14.8 % for traditional surgery. Carbon dioxide allows a complete healing in a mean time of 22 days without scarring, hematomas or wound infections and a return to daily living in a mean time of 2 days. Instead, patients undergone traditional surgery required a mean time of 14 days to return to daily life with a healing mean time completed in 28 days. CONCLUSIONS: The minimum rate of intra- and post-operative complications, the ability to perform it under local anesthesia in an outpatient setting make CO2 laser surgery more cost-effective than traditional surgery.