A quantitative evaluation of the use of medical lasers in German hospitals.

ABSTRACT

The laser has become an integral part of modern medicine, procedures based on this technique have found their way into a multitude of medical disciplines. There is, however, no data available on the detailed quantitative development of laser use in the medical sector. This fact gave rise to the idea of the present study, which analyzed the raw data of the quality report of German hospitals with respect to this subject. Over the 9 years of report, a steady increase in the cumulative number of cases was evident, although not all body regions in which the medical laser is used followed this trend. The CO2 laser was found to be the most commonly applied laser, even though a large spectrum of different laser types is used. Based on the present study, the importance of the laser for medical purposes can be confirmed.