Cryotherapy of Actinic Keratosis

Cryotherapy of Actinic Keratosis

Cryotherapy of actinic keratosis.

Cryotherapy is an excellent choice for the treatment of small single actinic keratoses. First confirm the diagnosis and the lesion margins (actinic keratosis shows no ulceration, no mushy plaques and no tissue thickening). If there is hyperkeratosis in the area, it should be removed by curettage to see what is underneath. In this case, there was no significant hyperkeratosis, and the actinic keratosis was a thin, superficial, rough, erythematous spot on the skin of the right cheek.

The lesion margin can be marked (here with dots). Cryotherapy of actinic keratoses should be done by freezing the lesion thoroughly, making sure that the frozen area extends slightly beyond the margin. The total freeze time is usually 5-20 seconds depending on the skin area (for the face, 5-10 seconds is usually sufficient). In this case, the freeze time was about 10 seconds because the lesion was a thin actinic keratosis on the face.

After complete thawing, the treatment should be repeated, i.e. 2 freeze cycles per treatment session are normally used for an actinic keratosis. The patient should be informed that the area may be erythematous and tender for a few days. It can be washed normally.

Video: Timo Ruohoalho, text: Alexander Salava