4 Important Surgeries You Should Know when You Have a Skin Cancer

Squamous or basal cell skin cancers should be removed with techniques like surgical excision, electrodessication and curettage or Mohs surgery, along with possible reconstruction of the skin and tissue around.

Image Courtesy: pclscoffsharbour.com.au

Squamous cell cancer can be severe and your surgeon may have to remove more tissue. Additional treatments may also be recommended to you for advanced squamous cell caner like radiation therapy or medications.

Basal cell cancer tends to be less severe, but if it does get aggressive, your doctor may use surgery to treat it.

https://pclscoffsharbour.com.au/breast-augmentation/ is a place where you not only can know about cosmetic procedures but also about skin cancer removal.

1. Electrodessication and Curettage

Electrodessication and curettage are an outpatient procedure, in which doctors numb the skin with a local anaesthesia and scrape off cancer cells with a small scoop-like, sharp-edged tool named curette.

Then electricity is applied with a probe to stop any bleeding. Your doctor will repeat this process multiple times.

Then the treated area will be bandaged. A small, elevated, white or pink scar will be left on the treated area.

This technique can be used for small basal or squamous cell cancers that haven’t yet spread beyond the skin’s top layer and near sensitive areas like eyes or lips.

The procedure is quite simple and quick and helps people avoid surgery.

However, the removed tissue is not sent to a pathologist for examination. This keeps the question unanswered if all the cancer cells are removed.

2. Standard Surgical Excision

During this procedure, your doctor will remove the entire tumour along with a border of healthy tissue.

The incision will then be closed with stitches and your doctor will send the tissue to a laboratory for the dermatopathologist for examination to confirm if the entire tumour has been taken out.

Results may arrive anywhere between several days and a week.

This procedure is done under local anaesthesia and the patient can go home usually on the same day. A discomfort may be felt for a few days. Stitches are generally removed after 7 to 14 days.

3. Mohs Surgery

A Mohs surgery involves removal of skin cancer together with a very small border of healthy tissue.

This surgery is performed by surgeons who are fellowship-trained and have special expertise in skin cancer removal as well as surgical reconstruction after the skin cancer removal.

It’s done under local anaesthesia and after the area is numb, a thin layer of tissue is first removed.

Then you’ll be bandaged and be seated in a waiting room while your doctor examines the tumour and its surrounding border to confirm that no cancer cell has left behind.

If the border contains any cancer cells, the surgeon will again remove another thin skin layer and examine it to make sure the cancer is totally removed.

Mohs surgery is absolutely effective and leaves the tiniest possible scar.

Image Courtesy: pclscoffsharbour.com.au

4. Reconstruction

After a procedure like skin cancer removal at from PCLS Coffs Harbour, small incisions can be closed with stitches. But large ones may need reconstructive procedures.

Reconstruction can be done the same day when Mohs surgery is performed because the technique helps doctors confirm immediately whether entire tumour has been removed.

In case of a standard excision, reconstruction may be postponed until pathologist verifies that the margins are cancer-free.

Talk to your doctor to know all your options and get the treatment without worrying.