THERMAL TISSUE-DAMAGE FOLLOWING LASER AND LARGE LOOP CONIZATION OF THE CERVIX

Objective: To compare thermal injury zones produced with laser and dia thermy loop conization. Methods: Excisional cervical specimens (cones and cervices) were obtained from 40 consecutive women who underwent ab dominal hysterectomy. The subjects were assigned to have either laser or diathermy loop conization (20 in each group). The duration of each procedure was recorded. Histopathologic measurements of thermal injury zones were performed in all specimens. Results: The techniques produc ed cone specimens of similar depth. The mean depth of thermal injury p roduced with laser conization in cone specimens (mean +/- standard dev iation 0.49 +/- 0.16 mm) and cervical craters (0.58 +/- 0.24 mm) was s ignificantly greater (P < .001) than the corresponding depth in cone s pecimens (0.22 +/- 0.09 mm) and cervical craters (0.27 +/- 0.11 mm) ob tained by diathermy loop excision. The mean time of the two procedures was also significantly different (P < .001): laser conization 11 +/- 4.5 minutes and loop conization 2 +/- 1.2 minutes. Conclusion: For rou tine conization, loop diathermy causes less thermal damage to the spec imen and is a faster procedure than laser.