If you require a procedure to remove any suspected or confirmed skin cancer lesions, or other lesions such as warts, cysts, lipomas, scars or moles, rest assured that you’ll be looked after at Green Square Health.
Often the doctor who will do the procedure will have seen you before already, so they can explain the length of time required, the aftercare needed, the risks and costs.
If you’ve been referred from elsewhere, then sometimes the doctor will still need to see you for a consultation to confirm those details before proceeding.
There are medicare rebates for most excisions, but the amount often does depend on what the histopathology reveals. If you have any questions about this please call for clarification.
The skin cancer doctors at Green Square Health can provide a wide variety of procedures to remove any suspicious lesions which include;
- Cryotherapy: where we use liquid nitrogen to freeze the lesion and the healthy skin under it. This starves it of blood supply, and a blister will push the lesion off. This is great for spots such as seborrheic keratosis, and actinic keratosis
- Curettage: the area is numbed and a little curette (surgical spoon) is used to scrape away the abnormal cells
- Punch biopsy: where we capture the lesion with a single 3mm, 4mm, or 6mm punch and close the wound with 1-2 sutures
- Shave biopsy: some larger or irregular lesions that are very superficial can be removed by shaving the lesion off and then sent for examination and diagnosis
- Excisional biopsy: if appropriate, we will excise the lesion whole and send it for diagnosis
- Surgical excision: if the laboratory report returns as specific types of cancer, these may need wider excisions to ensure the cancer is completely removed and reduce the risk of spread or recurrence
- Skin grafting and flap repairs: if a lesion is particularly large, or in an area where there is difficulty closing the skin afterwards, we can perform a flap procedure to cover the skin or perform a graft using skin obtained from another site on your body
If you’re concerned at all about a lesion or would like some peace of mind, book with one of our fantastic skin cancer doctors today!