Dr Neisha Wratten1
1Dr Neisha K. Wratten, Marden, Australia
In 2017, an Australian series of 102 women with symptoms of GSM treated by fractional CO2 laser was published. 84% of women experienced improvement in their symptoms after 12 -24 months of follow-up. Attention was drawn to the high attrition rates in the study, with the responses decreasing from “less than half” after the third treatment to study completion.
This is a case report of the outcome after treatment of one of the women from the “lost to follow-up ” group, who presented with stenosis of the vaginal orifice 3 years after treatment.
Her symptoms, which commenced with 12 months after 3 episodes of treatment and severely impacted on her quality of life, failed to respond to conservative measures and surgical correction was sought.
A case series of complications after vaginal laser therapy was published earlier this year and, as in this case, the affected women did not represent to the original clinician but sought a second opinion. Given the recent world-wide experience with complications after the use of vaginal mesh and reports of increased uptake of these therapeutic modalities it may be prudent for a central body to establish a site where these incidents can be documented and reviewed.