Excision of Skin Lesions

What are Skin Lesions?

Skin lesions such as moles, warts, skin tags or suspicious growths can form in any part of the body. Depending on the size and location of the lesion, your doctor may perform an excision in various ways. These procedures are performed under local anaesthesia.

Methods of Skin Lesion Excision

Some of the different methods your surgeon may use to remove skin lesions are:

• Shaving the lesion to the level of your skin using a surgical blade or laser
• Using surgical scissors to cut off lesions from the skin
• Complete excision of certain lesions that may lead to cancer though an incision in the skin. The skin is sutured after the removal.
• Using liquid nitrogen to freeze the lesions
• Photodynamic therapy, in which a chemical is applied onto your skin and a beam of light is allowed to fall on it, activating the chemical to destroy the lesion

Your wound may be dressed or left open after the surgery based on the type of the procedure.

Risks Associated with Excision of Skin Lesions

Like all invasive procedures, excision of skin lesions may be associated with side effects such as pain, swelling, scarring, infections, changes in skin sensation, excessive bleeding and allergic reactions to the anaesthetic.