Complication and recurrence rate in laser CO 2 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, CO 2 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 CO 2 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 CO 2 laser surgery of whom 27 patients underwent traditional surgery, whereas 35 patients underwent CO 2 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 CO 2 laser surgery and 42.2 ± 13.8 for traditional surgery. Two patients (5.7 %) needed an hemostatic suture for intraoperative bleeding in the laser CO 2 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 CO 2 laser surgery more cost-effective than traditional surgery.