The laser in surgery. A 23 year perspective.

Clinically silent malignant tumor recurrence or metastasis can be treated by laser resection or vaporization as well as by a second-look procedure suggested by an increasing level of carcinoembryonic antigen. Laser resection enables surgeons to resect multiple small metastases that would not normally be resectable. The surgical limitations of each laser unit and each wavelength must be identified. The laser is now used by gynecologists, neurosurgeons, otolaryngologists, ophthalmologists, and oncologic surgeons to rapidly and precisely resect or vaporize tissues and, in some cases, to extend tumor-free survival. Twenty-three years after its first experimental use, the laser has established itself as an important surgical tool.