Links to published abstracts are provided for informational purposes only, this listing is not intended to be all-inclusive. It is recommended that each surgeon develop his or her own surgical techniques, including lasing parameters, based on experience with different tissue types, methods, and postoperative results. The links to these articles will take you out of the MST website. Please use the BACK button on your browser to return to the MST site.

Journal Articles:  Holmium:YAG Laser

The Holmium:YAG (Ho:YAG) laser is perhaps the most versatile surgical laser available to today's laser surgeon. The unique ability of the Ho:YAG to vaporize, ablate and coagulate soft tissues and extremely hard materials, such as calculi, have made it the laser of choice for orthopedic, urologic, ENT, gynecologic, gastroenterologic and general surgeons worldwide.

A relatively low depth of thermal penetration, excellent hemostasis, delivery systems that allow access to even the tightest spaces, and a wide variety of tissue effects are just a few of the many benefits the Ho:YAG laser can bring to your patients and your practice.

Holmium:YAG laser energy, at 2100 nm (2.1 microns), is rapidly absorbed by the water in tissue and has an ultimate depth of penetration of 0.4 mm or less. Holmium laser energy can ablate hard materials such as calcified urinary tract calculi while also being able to treat the delicate structures encountered in spinal, gynecological and ENT surgery.

·  Urological Surgery - Lithotripsy   ·   Orthopedic Surgery   ·

·  Spinal Surgery   ·  General Surgery   ·   Otolaryngology   ·   

Urological Surgery - Lithotripsy

    The efficacy of the Ho:YAG laser as a lithotrite is well documented in current literature. The laser has the unique ability to vaporize, or reduce to a fine grit, virtually any stone, regardless of its composition or color.

     Ho:YAG lithotripsy generates the smallest stone fragments of any lithotripsy device currently available to the practicing urologist. The combination of small fragment size and outstanding probe flexibility typically allows access and visibility to be maintained at all times.

Complications employing the holmium:YAG laser.    Beaghler M; Poon M; Ruckle H; Stewart S; Weil D.   J Endourol 1998 Dec;12(6):533-5. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Holmium:YAG Lithotripsy Yields Smaller Fragments than Lithoclast, Pulsed Dye Laser or Electrohydraulic Lithotripsy.    Teichman, Joel M.H. et al. The Journal of Urology. Vol 159, pp.17-23, Jan. 1998. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Transient Cavitation and Acoustic Emission Produced by Different Laser Lithotripters.  Pei Zhong, Ph.D., Hon-Leung Tong, M.S., Franklin Hadley Cocks, Ph.D., Margaret S. Pearle, M.D., Ph.D. and Glenn M. Preminger, M.D.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Retrograde ureteropyeloscopy for lower pole caliceal calculi.   Grasso M; Ficazzola M.  J Urol. 1999 Dec; 162 (6):1904-8. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.  

Holmium laser lithotripsy of a complicated biliary calculus.    Monga M; Gabal-Shehab LL; Kamarei M; D'Agostino H.  J Endourol 1999 Sep;13(7):505-6.   Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.    

Identifying stone composition using infrared analysis of filtered urine after ureteroscopic lithotripsy.  Wollin TA; Razvi HA; Denstedt JD.  J Endourol. 1999 Sep;13(7):499-503.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.   

Holmium:YAG lithotripsy for large renal and bladder calculi: strategies for efficient lithotripsy.   Teichman JM.  J Endourol. 1999 Sep;13(7):477-80. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Proteus mirabilis viability after lithotripsy of struvite calculi.  Prabakharan S; Teichman JM; Spore SS; Sabanegh E; Glickman RD; McLean RJ.  J Urol.  1999 Nov;162(5):1666-9. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.  

Holmium:YAG laser lithotripsy: A dominant photothermal ablative mechanism with chemical decomposition of urinary calculi.  Chan KF; Vassar GJ; Pfefer TJ; Teichman JM; Glickman RD; Weintraub ST; Welch AJ.  Lasers Surg Med.    1999;25(1):22-37.   Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Holmium: YAG lithotripsy: photothermal mechanism.   Vassar GJ; Chan KF; Teichman JM; Glickman RD; Weintraub ST; Pfefer TJ; Welch AJ.   J Endourol.  1999 Apr;13(3):181-90. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.     

Experimental utilization of the holmium laser in a model of ureteroscopic lithotripsy: energy analysis.   Calvano CJ; Moran ME; White MD; Borhan-Manesh A; Mehlhaff BA.  J Endourol.  1999 Mar;13(2):113-5. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Management of upper urinary tract calculi with ureteroscopic techniques.  Tawfiek ER; Bagley DH.  Urology.  1999 Jan; 53(1): 25-31. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.  

The holmium laser in urology. Wollin TA; Denstedt JD. J Clin Laser Med Surg.  1998 Feb;16(1):13-20. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Ureteroscopic Management of Ureteral Calculi; Electrohydraulic verses Holmium:YAG Lithotripsy
Teichman, Joel M.H. et al. The Journal of Urology.  Vol. 158, pp. 1357-1361, Oct. 1997. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Intracorporeal Lithotripsy with the Holmium:YAG Laser.   Razvi, Denstedt, Chun, et al. The Journal of Urology. Vol156, pp.912-914,1996. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Cystscopic Holmium Lithotripsy of Large Bladder Calculi.  Mclver, Griffin, Harris, et al. Techniques in Urology. Vol. 2, No.2, 1996. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Intrarenal Use of the Holmium Laser.  Das, Erthard, Bagle. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. 21: 198-202, 1997. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Holmium:Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnett Laser for Endoscopic Lithotripsy.   Matsuoka, Lida, Nakanami, et al. Urology, Vol.45, No.6, June, 1995.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Use of the Holmium Laser in the Upper Urinary Tract.  Bagley, Erhard. Techniques in Urology. Vol. 1, No.1, pp.25-30, 1995.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.


 

Return to Top of Page

ORTHOPEDICS

Conventional instrument vs. laser-assisted arthroscopic meniscectomy.  Yakin D E; Rogers V P.  Lasers Surg Med. 1999;25(5):435-7.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Ablation Rates of Human Meniscal Tissue with the HO:YAG Laser: The Effects of Varying Fluences.  Vangsness, Ghaderi, Brustein, et al.  Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery.  Vol. 12, No.2 ( April) 1997, pp.148-150.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Effects of Holmium:YAG Laser Energy of Cartilage Metabolism, Healing, and Biochemical Properties of Lesional and Perilesional Tissue in a Weight Bearing Model.   Pullin, Collier, Das, et al.  The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery.  Vol.12, No.1, February 1996.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Lateral Retinacular Release: The Holmium:YAG Laser Versus Electocautery.  Shapiro, Fanton, Dillingham, et al.  Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research.  Number 310, January, 1995.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Return to Top of Page

SPINAL SURGERY

Results of the Clinical Trial of the Holmium:YAG Laser in Disc Decompression Utilizing a Side Firing Fiber: A Two Year Follow-up.  Casper, Hartman, Mullings. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. 19: 90-96, 1996.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Laser-Assisted Disc Decompression: A Clinical Trial of the Holmium:YAG laser with Side-Firing Fiber.
Casper, Mullins, Hartman. Journal of Clinical Laser Medicine & Surgery. Vol. 13, No.1, 1995.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Holmium:YAG Laser Ablation of Human Intervertebral Disc: Preliminary Evaluation.    Gottlob, Kopchok, Peng, et al. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. 12: 88-91, 1991.  Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Return to Top of Page

GENERAL SURGERY

Comparison of Methods for Transcatheter Fragmentation of Gallstones.  Johnson, Oz, Chuck, et al. Surgical Endoscopy. 3:7, 1989. Use the back button on your browser to return to our site.

Return to Top of Page

Otolarngology

Return to Top of Page