Curettage
The surgical scraping to clean an area, remove diseased tissue, tumours or growths or obtain a biopsy for diagnosis.
CURETTAGE
During Curettage (Cautery) the Dermatologist will use a sterilised, spoon-shaped tool with a sharp edge, called a curette, to scrape and target soft or weak tissues. It allows the delicate and precise work required for removing foreign matter, dead tissue, diseased growths and tiny cancers and makes it the perfect electrosurgery solution to treat and scrape away lesions like:
- Benign lesions – warts, spider nevi, skin tags, seborrheic keratoses, and angiomas
- Premalignant skin lesions (actinic keratoses)
- Cancerous skin conditions – basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma
This procedure is also used for biopsies that allows the proper diagnosis of growths and tumours, but is not suited for deep, large and recurring basal cell carcinoma.
BENEFITS OF
CURRETAGE
BENEFITS OF CURETTAGE
• Medical and clinical diagnosis of potentially dangerous growths and cancers
• Prevention of further growth in basal cell carcinoma
• It’s a quick procedure done in our consulting rooms
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
3-6 weeks is required for complete healing, but it depends on the size treated.
Usually, a small scar is accompanied by cautery. They tend to be flat and round and about the same size of the original skin lesion, but they fade as they reduce in colour and size over several months.
Anaesthesia will be used for the procedure which makes it fairly pain-free, but patients might experience tenderness around the wound when this wears off.
Most cautery procedures are done at our clinic by a surgeon and with the support of experienced medical professionals.
The doctor will give you a detailed list of precautions and post-operative steps you can take which includes:
-Leave the dressing in place for 24 hours
-Avoid strenuous exercise or any activity that would place pressure, stress or stretch the area
-Keep the wound dry for at least 48 hours
