If you’ve recently been diagnosed with skin cancer, you’re likely feeling worried and confused. However, it’s important to know your treatment options and be proactive with finding a suitable cure. At Brentwood Dermatology, we offer several skin cancer treatments, including curettage.
Keep reading to learn more about curettage as a skin cancer treatment, or get in touch with our team if you have any additional questions about skin health.
Curettage is a specific technique to remove cancerous or non-cancerous lesions. It’s a minimally-invasive and straightforward procedure that scrapes off lesions or skin growths with a curette (a circular or oval-shaped instrument).
Following the lesion removal, the area is then cauterized with an electrocautery needle, which produces burning heat, to destroy any residual malignant cells and control bleeding.
Additionally, to minimize discomfort or pain, the patient is given anesthesia before the procedure.
Interested in knowing more about curettage? Check out our guide to frequently asked questions about curettage below.
In medical procedures, curettage means the removal of tissue or growth by scooping or scraping with a curette tool, which is a sharp metal tool shaped like a loop or circle.
Curettage is performed through the use of a curette tool and an electrocautery needle (electric needle). The procedure removes cancerous (skin cancer) and non-cancerous lesions by scraping away tissue with a curette and destroying tissue through the use of electrodesiccation (burning the area).
In most cases, dermatologists perform curettage in many layers to ensure the lesion or cancerous cells are completely removed. You can expect three cycles of curettage and electrodesiccation.
To minimize patient pain and discomfort, curettage is performed with a numbing agent or anesthesia.
Yes, curettage can be used when performing a biopsy. Certain skin cancers, like basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma, can spread to deeper layers of the skin, and a curettage is a useful tool for gently scraping out small amounts of tissue for a biopsy.
Curettage is used primarily for small lesions or growths. In most cases, this type of treatment is not recommended for high-risk sites or aggressive forms of skin cancer, such as melanoma. Generally, curettage has the best cure rate for superficial basal cell or squamous carcinomas.
Use the photos below to get a better understanding of curettage and how it is performed by our board-certified dermatologists at Brentwood Dermatology.
Interested in knowing more about curettage or the skin cancer treatments we offer at Brentwood Dermatology? Our experienced board-certified dermatologists are passionate about preventing and treating skin cancer and would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Request your appointment online or give us a call at 615-377-3448 to schedule an appointment at a time that’s convenient for you.
