Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28770296›Full record

SynthesisInternational urogynecology journal2017

A systematic review on vaginal laser therapy for treating stress urinary incontinence: Do we have enough evidence?

Vasilios Pergialiotis, Anastasia Prodromidou, Despina N Perrea, Stergios K Doumouchtsis

Registry-linked trialAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International urogynecology journal, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04636749 (Erbium Vaginal Laser for the Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence - Randomized Single Blind Trial), which is not on this map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04636749 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Erbium Vaginal Laser for the Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence - Randomized Single Blind Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorRambam Health Care CampusRan2021 to 2022Enrolled80ConditionsStress Urinary IncontinenceArmsErbium laser, Sham laser
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Vaginal lasers for treating stress urinary incontinence in women.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Vasilios PergialiotisLaboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research N.S. Christeas, 6, Danaidon str, 15232, Chalandri, Greece. pergialiotis@yahoo.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3409-0844
Anastasia ProdromidouLaboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research N.S. Christeas, 6, Danaidon str, 15232, Chalandri, Greece.
Despina N PerreaLaboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research N.S. Christeas, 6, Danaidon str, 15232, Chalandri, Greece.
Stergios K DoumouchtsisLaboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research N.S. Christeas, 6, Danaidon str, 15232, Chalandri, Greece.
St George's Hospital · GBYahoo (Spain) · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introduction and hypothesisCurrent treatment strategies for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) raise concerns about safety and efficacy. The purpose of this systematic review was to present available evidence related to vaginal laser therapy as a treatment option for SUI.

methodsWe searched the MEDLINE (1966-2017), Scopus (2004-2017), Clinicaltrials.gov (2008-2017) and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (1999-2017) databases for relevant studies in this field. We aimed to include all observational studies (prospective and retrospective, randomized and nonrandomized) that reported outcomes on vaginal laser therapy as a treatment option for SUI.

resultsThirteen studies were included that recruited 818 patients who underwent laser therapy for SUI. The methodological quality of most included studies was low, as they were either individual case-control studies, case series or poor-quality cohorts (Oxford Level of Evidence 3b and 4). According to the existing evidence, laser therapy may be a useful, minimally invasive approach for treating SUI. However, the methodological limitations of included studies render them prone to significant bias, limiting their scientific integrity.

conclusionsAs the demand for minimally invasive approaches for treating SUI increases, it is expected that more patients will seek alternative treatments over current standards (midurethral slings). Given the limitations of the existing studies, it seems that conducting future trials is necessary to elucidate this field.

Indexed as

Laser TherapyFemaleHumansTreatment OutcomeUrinary Incontinence, StressErbiumIncontinenceLaserSuiSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID28770296
OpenAlexW2741462090

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.