HPV Laser Treatment

Approximately 20 million people are believed to have HPV (human papillomavirus) at some point in their lives and over 5 million patients are diagnosed with HPV each year, according to the American Social Health Association. If left untreated the abnormal cells that result from the high-risk types of HPV may lead to cancer in both men and women. While a cure for HPV does not exist, treatments directed at the symptoms help to prevent the development of cancer.

Screening for Women

• Women usually discover they have HPV when they receive their annual pap smear. If test results return with the presence of abnormal cells, women are advised to get another screening test to find out whether the HPV is low risk or high risk. A colposcopy, using a lens to inspect the cervix more closely, is a more rigorous test to determine the severity of the HPV. Upon screening from the colposcopy, if there is mild or moderate dysplasia (abnormal cervical cells) displayed then treatments are highly recommended because of the high risk of the cells becoming cancerous.

HPV DNA Test for Men

• If men are suspected of having HPV due to being in a high-risk category of having HIV and/or genital warts, an HPV DNA test is administered where an anal swab is analyzed for high risk HPV, according to American Association for Clinical Chemistry.

Procedures for Women

• Laser conization is used to treat cervical dysplasia by using a carbon dioxide laser. Conization is the excision of a cone-shaped or cylindrical wedge from the cervix. A highly concentrated ray of light emits heat with the ability to scrape off the tissue housing abnormal cells, the Cleveland Clinic explains. The process is of a longer duration than the other procedures and is usually combined with treatments such as the cold-knife method, which reduces the length of the surgery, author Dr. Istvan Nyirjesy reported in an article on the eMedicine website.

  HPV related lesions (genital warts) that have been screened as pre-malignant and do not extend into the endocervical canal are treated with vaporization conization, another type of laser treatment, according to Nyirjesy.

  Cold-knife conization utilizes a scalpel to remove abnormal cells. The disadvantage is that it usually leads to more amounts of bleeding than other treatments available.

  LEEP (Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure) requires a thin wire loop connected to a high frequency electrical generator in order to remove the abnormal cells with great precision.

Procedures for Men

• In men, genital warts caused by HPV are known to be precursors to cancer because they usually develop from the high-risk strands of HPV. It is advised that the genital warts are removed as a precautionary step against the possible development of cancer. Even removing the HPV-related lesions does not guarantee that there won't be a recurrence, because there is no cure for HPV.

  Laser vaporization is also used for men in order to rid the body of the genital warts.

  Certain creams and/ or injections of interferon alpha are administered by doctors as a treatment for the lesions.

  Cryotherapy is used to freeze the genital warts off.

  Electrocautery is a treatment that essentially burns off warts with an electric current.

Risks

• Laser surgery may lead to pain, swelling or itching, vaginal or penile discharge, sores, tissues that are stuck together, dead tissue flaking and potential scarring, according to a Healthwise article on Cigna's website. Usually doctors use laser surgery in order to remove genital warts as a last resort due to the high cost and the possibility that the local immune system could be damaged, increasing the risk of the recurrence of genital warts and abnormal cells, reports author Sandy Jocoy, R.N.

  In very rare circumstances the LEEP procedure may lead to an infection of the uterus or cervix or a narrowing of the cervix that may lead to infertility, and a woman's chance of delivering a baby before the expected date increases, as well.