ABSTRACT
Lasers were used therapeutically in medicine for some time before Goldrath et al. first described their use for destruction of the endometrium in 1981. 1 The potential of endometrial laser ablation (ELA) was recognized as an alternative to hysterectomy by the early 1990s and endometrial ablation for dysfunctional uterine bleeding, in one form or another, now represents a significant proportion of the gynecologist’s workload. 2,3 The increasing number of ablation procedures using varying second-generation techniques has meant that fewer first-generation ablation procedures (laser ablation, transcervical resection, and rollerball) are now performed and that fewer doctors are being trained in their use. This will ultimately have an impact on the ability of gynecologists to treat fibroids, septa, and uterine synechiae.
