Endoscopic enhancement of the healing of high-risk colon anastomoses by low-power helium-neon laser. An experimental study.

Recent studies suggest that helium-neon (He-Ne) lasers at low energy can enhance wound healing in intestinal anastomoses. In this experimental study, we tested the strength and collagen concentration of high-risk anastomoses of the rat colon after endoscopic irradiation by helium-neon laser. Our results show that repeated helium-neon laser irradiation (1.9 J/cm2) increases the bursting strength of the anastomoses by almost 100% on the fourth postoperative day. This effect is not observed by increasing the radiation dose (6.4 J/cm2). Differences in collagen (hydroxyproline) concentration did not reach statistical significance.