Minor surgery 2 midterm Flashcards
How do you hold the electrode with electrofulgeration?
With electrofulgeration you hold the electrode away from the skin, producing a spark and a shallow effect.
How do your use electrodessication?
With electrodessication you touch the skin with the electrode (or insert into the skin) to destroy tissue.
Which two types of effect are produced by the hyfrecation machine by Conmed?
Both electrofulgeration & electrodessication
What are the advantages of a thermal pencil cautery (“hot wire loop”)?
- Low cost
- Individual sterile packaging
- Disposible
- Safe around eyes
- Safe with patients with pacemakers
- Great to drain subungal hematomas
What are some of the advantages of electrosurgical devices?
- Simple to use
- Rapid technique
- Control bleeding while cutting tissue
- Compact
- Affordable
- Sterile condition and sutures are not needed
- Infection rarely develops in wounds left open
- Used for wide variety of skin lesions
What are some of the disadvantages of electrosurgical devices?
- Safety risk-electric shock, burns or fires
- Hypertrophic scar formation
- Channeling of current down vessels and nerves
- Smoke may carry particles into respiratory tract (not great for wart removal)
- Delayed hemorrhage
- Unsightly wound
- Slow healing
- Obliteration of histology (therefore not good for obtaining bx specimen)
- Electrosurgical artifact at margins if used for bx
What are the advantages of cryotherapy over electrosurgery?
- Faster and easier to perform
- No anesthetics needed
- No risk of developing HPV, HIV or other viral infections through respiratory tract
What are the disadvantages of cryotherapy versus electrosurgery?
- More likely to cause hypopigmentation
- Less effective than electrosurgery for pedunculated condyloma
- Final result cannot be seen immediately as with electrosurgery
- More guesswork in treating the lesion for inexperienced physician
- May need to be repeated several times
- Causes more postoperative swelling
- Causes discomfort
What are the advantages of the scalpel versus electrosurgery? The disadvantages?
Advantages:
- Inexpensive
- Disposable
- Cleaner edge on both wound and bx specimen
- No heat induced tissue damage to obscure bx
- Generally better wound healing and cosmetic results
Disadvantages:
- Does not control bleeding
- Small risk of accidental cutting yourself
What are the advantages of electrosurgery over laser treatment?
- Less expensive
- Easier to use
- Laser requires a subspecialist to determine and perform the best treatment modality for the patient
What are the advantages of laser treatment over electrosurgery?
- Can efficiently cut, coagulate and destroy tissue
* Good for resurfacing-removing wrinkles
What are the contraindications/cautions based on the patient for use of electrosurgery?
- Caution with pacemakers
- Caution with metal plated, metal pins or metal prosthetics
- Patients should not touch metal part of treatment cart to avoid current shock
- Malignant lesion is contraindicated
- Body folds are contraindicated
Is electrosurgery an appropriate treatment modality for melanoma? For a lesion around the eye?
- Melanoma-No way!
- BCC- No way!
- Lesion around eye-No way!
True or False?
The radio surgery machine is more efficient for cutting than the Hyfrecator with less tissue damage?
FACT: the radiosurgery machine is more efficient for cutting than the Hyfrecator with less tissue damage (less “lateral heat”).
True or False?
There are different power settings on electrosurgical machines useful for different functions?
FACT: there are different power settings on electrosurgical machines useful for different functions.
What are the cautions to observe to prevent fires and burns with electrosurgery?
- Do not prep skin with EtOH
- Do not use ethyl chloride as local anesthetic (Flammable)
- Have fire extinguisher near by
- Bowel gas can ignite if performing perirectal procedures
- Electric shock from breaking contact with patient while electrode is activated-keep hand on patient for grounding
- Don’t touch metal
What are the cautions when using cryotherapy?
- Cosmetically unacceptable scarring may occur
- Remove all callous from plantar warts before freezing
- Nerves and vessels may be damaged with freezing too deeply
- Depigmentation or hyper pigmentation may occur
What type of lighting helps distinguish a macule from a papule?
- Tangential lighting-oblique lighting
- Macule- circumscribed area of change in normal skin color without elevation or depression, not palpable
- Macular exanthema-rash consisting of macules
- Papule-superficial, solid lesion less than 0.5cm in diameter, palpable
- Papules with distinct borders are seen when lesions increased in # of epidermal cells
Understand the use of diascopy to distinguish a purpura from vascular extravasation.
*Pressing a glass slide to red lesion is simple way to detect blanching, if redness remains, under pressure, it is purpuric. If redness disappears it is erythematous and due to vascular dilation
Confluence of papule leads to what?
Leads to the development of larger, usually flat-topped, circumscribed, plateau-like elevations known as plaques.
Plaque results from what?
Plaque results from repeated rubbing of the skin and most frequently develops in persons with Lichenification.
Nodules result from what?
Nodules result from Infiltrates, Neoplasm, or Metabolic Deposits in the dermis or subcutaneous tissue.
Vesicles and bull arise from what?
Vesicles and bullae arise from a Cleavage at various levels of the skin, which may be within the epidermis or at the Epidermal-Dermal Interface.
Crusts develop when?
Crusts develop when serum, blood, or purulent exudate dries on the skin surface.
Which layers of skin are involved in an erosion vs. an ulcer vs. a fissure? Which of these lesions typically heals without a scar?
- Ulcer=> epidermis & papillary layer of dermis
- Fissure=> Abrupt walls of epidermis, but can extend into dermic
- Erosions=> only in the epidermis
True or False?
When irritated or injured, a skin tag may appear as a necrotic, crusted papule that may not be clinically distinctive and may raise concern regarding a Malignancy.
FACT: When irritated or injured, a skin tag may appear as a necrotic, crusted papule that may not be clinically distinctive and may raise concern regarding a Malignancy.
The easiest means of removal of a skin tag is by?
The easiest means of removal of a skin tag is by lift and snip using Scissors and Forceps.
The diagnostic test, “dimple sign”, if positive suggests what?
a Dermatofibroma.
Simple incision is usually sufficient for removal of a what?
a dermatofibroma along with a biopsy if indicated.
Characteristically, on compression, a Neurofibroma demonstrates a what?
“buttonhole” sign.
Café-Au-Alit spots (light brown macule) are a cutaneous finding often seen in what?
Neurofibroma or von Richenhausen.
Over time moles tend to mature from Epitheliod too what?
From Epitheliod to Lymphocytoid and then Neuroid types.
Most nevi are acquired, appearing sometime after age of what and between what ages?
After the 35th year of life and before age 60 years.
Regular brown color, surface, and border are characteristic features of a nevus that differentiate it from?
Melanoma.
Their importance in diagnosis of a blue nevus is their similar appearance to what?
nodular Melanoma.
Weeks to months after incomplete removal of a nevus, brown macular re-pigmentation may appear in the scar and a biopsy specimen taken from that lesion may confuse the pathologist with?
Rapidly Growing Cells.
A small percentage of small dark dots within melanocytic nevi are due to?
Melanoma.
What are the 4 signs that help distinguish a normal mole from a melanoma?
- Asymmetry
- Border irregularity
- Color
- Diameter greater than ¼ inch
True or false:
There is a large risk of Melanoma in newborns with nevi covering more than 5% of the body surface.
True
True or false:
Worrisome moles are those that have changed in color, shape, or size, have been acquired in adulthood, bleed, or are itching.
FACT: Worrisome moles are those that have changed in color, shape, or size, have been acquired in adulthood, bleed, or are itching.