What is Mohs Surgery?
Mohs surgery is a specialized treatment for treating skin cancer. It was developed by Dr. Frederic Mohs; it removes the tumor with continuous microscopic control. Not all tumors grow as perfect spheres.
What is visible on the surface of the skin may be only the tip of the tumor that exists underneath the skin.
The keys to the Mohs technique include:
-Removing cancer and the least amount of skin around the tumor.
-Examination of tissue using a microscope
-Mapping the exact location of the tumor tor the total removal of skin cancer.
What is the cure rate for Mohs Micrographic surgery?
The cure rate with Mohs surgery is near 99% for most types of skin cancer. Although you can see a tumor on the skin, what you don’t see is what is around and under the tumor, which are often more cancerous cells. This specialized surgical technique allows careful removal and microscopic examination of the cancerous tissue. This allows for the high cure rate and the removal of the least amount of skin.
What happens once the cancer is removed?
Once the cancer is removed the surrounding skin is usually stitched (sutured) together. It is often difficult to predict the size of the tumor prior to surgery, but there are several ways your surgical wound may be handled. In most cases, surgical wounds are sutured (sewn) closed in a line. Skin graft: In some instances, it is necessary for us to remove skin from some other site and graft it over the wound. In some cases, the wound will be left to heal on its own.
Will I be put to sleep for the surgery?
No. The tumor and surrounding skin will be numbed with local anesthesia similar to the biopsy that was taken of the area.
How long will the surgery last?
The length of surgery depends on the size of the tumor. Often surgery lasts 15 to 20 minutes but the entire process takes a few hours. Most of the time at our office is spent waiting for tissue to be processed and reviewed under the microscope.
How will I take care of the area after surgery?
Before you leave our office, we will discuss with you how to properly take care of the area that was treated in order to avoid complications. After the treatment is completed, we will schedule a time for you to come back to our office to remove the sutures.
If you have any questions on the Mohs Surgery procedure, call our dermatologist in our Sarasota office today at (941) 957-3376 !