A comparison of laser and cold knife conization

Currently, there are two methods of cervical conization, the laser and the cold knife. This retrospective review examined 217 laser cases and 205 cold knife cases to see which method was superior. The cold knife was shown to have a shorter operative time and a lower overall cost to the patient; however, it was associated with more intraoperative blood loss and more overnight admissions for observation. There were no differences in post operative bleeding complications requiring a visit to the emergency room or to the operating room. It is concluded that overall, there is no clearly superior method of conization for the treatment of cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia.