Evaluation of Fractional CO2 Laser Treatment Efficacy and Comparison to Vaginal Conjugated Estrogen Cream in Postmenopausal Women with Vulvovaginal Atrophy: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Background: Vulvovaginal atrophy is common and bothersome among postmenopausal women. Hence in this study, the fractional CO 2 laser treatment efficacy was compared with vaginal conjugated estrogen cream in postmenopausal women with vulvovaginal atrophy was assessed. Materials and Methods:In this randomized clinical trial, 130 consecutive postmenopausal women with vulvovaginal atrophy attending to urogynecologic clinic in Imam-Khomeini hospital in Ahvaz in 2015 were enrolled and were randomly assigned to receive either fractional CO 2 laser treatment or vaginal conjugated estrogen cream. The improvement of vulvovaginal atrophy symptoms, sexual satisfaction and function were compared across the groups after 12 weeks.Results: There improvement of vulvovaginal atrophy symptoms, sexual satisfaction, and function were 86.2%, 87.7%, and 87.7%, respectively in laser group and 53.8%, 52.3%, and 52.3%, respectively in primarin group showing statistically significant differences (P=0.0001). There were no side effects. Conclusion:Totally, according to obtained results, it may be concluded that efficacy of fractional CO 2 laser was higher than vaginal conjugated estrogen cream in postmenopausal women with vulvovaginal atrophy.