Dermatologic Surgery + Procedures

DSCCA offers dermatologic surgery and procedures as a treatment for skin cancer and pre-cancers.

After a lesion has been biopsied and declared cancerous, usually dermatologic surgery is performed to remove the cancer. An excision is one form of surgery in which a scalpel is used to remove cancerous tissue and a small amount of healthy tissue surrounding the area. Local anesthetic is used to make the procedure as comfortable as possible; and sutures may be used to close the site and a bandage will be applied to the wound.

Electrodesiccation and curettage is another surgical option that may be performed for more superficial skin cancers, depending on the type. In this case, the area is numbed and the skin cancer is then scraped away and a hyfrecator is used to burn and destroy the cancerous tissue. Usually 3 rounds of the scraping and burning is performed in a single procedure.

Cryosurgery is a procedure using liquid nitrogen to freeze any pre-cancerous skin lesions. The freezing will cause the pre-cancerous tissue to die and eventually flake off. This type of procedure is also often used to treat warts, seborrheic keratoses, and other benign lesions.

Our dermatologists will work to determine the best option for the removal of a pre-cancerous or cancerous lesion.