Manuel Del Campo Rodríguez: Fotona IncontiLase® Effects on Urinary Incontinence and its Impact on Quality of Life
The clinical results of photo-thermal laser therapy for slight stress urinary incontinence are promising and some studies suggest that the Er:YAG laser procedure may represent the future of non-invasive therapy for the treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction. The IntimaLase® and IncontiLase® protocols are based on heating the vaginal wall mucosa and include two treatment sessions with a 6-8 week interval.
The purpose of the study is to assess the relationship between Fotona’s IncontiLase® treatment and the evolution of the degree of urinary incontinence as well as the impact on quality of life.
A prospective before-and-after study, between May 2014 and December 2018, was conducted on 79 women who received IncontiLase® treatment. We assessed the scores of Spanish versions of the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire (ICIQ-UI-SF) and the Incontinence Quality of Life (IQoL) at baseline (T1), 6-8 weeks post first treatment (T2) and 6-8 weeks post second treatment (T3).
To evaluate the progress we carried out a non-parametric repeated measures test and calculated the Spearman correlation coefficient. The significance level was set at p<0.05.
The women were aged between 34 and 76 with an average age of 47 (9.0). The results showed a progressive decrease of 2.40 points on the ICIQ-UI-SF and 17.86 points on the IQoL between T3 and T1 (p<0.05). There was also a significant correlation between ICIQ-UI-SF and IQoL at the T1, T2 and T3 time points, where the stronger coefficient is r=0.837 at T3.
Only one IncontiLase® session treatment was necessary for the patients to notice a perceived improvement in urinary incontinence and their quality of life. However, a second session is necessary in order to notice a significant improvement and to maintain it. The IncontiLase® laser procedure could be an effective non-invasive technique for this purpose.
