The impact of CO 2 laser for treatment of Bartholin’s gland cyst or abscess on female sexual function: a pilot study

The aim of this study is to evaluate the sexual functionality before and after treatment of Bartholin’s gland diseases (BGD) with CO 2 laser and to compare our results to patients who underwent surgical cold knife and to a healthy control group (HCG). Consecutive patients (n = 15) affected by BG cyst or abscess who underwent CO 2 laser treatment were evaluated. Patients were asked to complete the Italian translation of the Female Sexual Functioning Index (FSFI) before and 4 weeks after treatment. Results after CO 2 laser were compared with two control groups: patients affected by BG cyst (n = 15) or abscess treated with surgical cold knife treatment and a HCG (n = 18). A statistically significant advantage of CO 2 laser versus cold knife treatment in terms of lubrication, pain and global score were recorded. Both the single scores of five domains and total score of FSFI were globally higher after any treatment compared to before (CO 2 and cold knife) of BGD. According to our data, CO 2 laser therapy is often well tolerated by patients and correlated with a favorable sexual health recovery.