A disposable sleeve is fitted over a surgical optical fiber assembly before carrying out a treatment procedure. The optical fiber assembly includes an optical fiber, a laser-transparent protective cap that surrounds the fiber tip, and any additional components assembled to the optical fiber and protective cap, such as a coolant jacket. The disposable sleeve includes a transparent end portion corresponding to the transparent protective cap to permit passage of laser light, the sleeve protecting the surgical optical fiber and the protective cap in order to enable re-use of the surgical optical fiber. After the surgical procedure is performed, the sleeve is removed from the optical fiber assembly and the fiber is sterilized. Another sleeve is then placed over the optical fiber assembly so that the optical fiber assembly may be re-used to carry out a second treatment procedure. The disposable sleeve may optionally be preloaded with an index matching and/or cooling material to modulate the laser output, in which case a pressure-relief mechanism such as a spring-biased sealing gasket may be provided to accommodate expansion of the index matching and/or cooling material upon heating during a treatment procedure. The optical fiber assembly may include a side-firing fiber tip, and the fiber tip may optionally be reflectively coated or provided with a metal reflector.
