No literally, we can get very very cold at Peachtree Hills Animal Hospital with our new CryoProbe! With temperatures reaching -70°C a cryoprobe can be used to freeze off skin growths without the need for sedation, local blocks, and anesthesia!
You may ask, “What can we freeze?” Well, that depends on the location, the size, the appearance, and the presumed cells that make up the growth. Depending on the appearance of the superficial skin lesion, if it is determined that ‘freezing’ with nitrous oxide is a viable alternative to surgical removal, then we can plan out and perform this easy procedure right in the exam room with you.
PROS:
-Little to no sedation needed
-Cost effective
-Minimal wound care
-Low risk for infection
-Good cosmetic results
CONS (limited):
-Scarring
-No histopathology/biopsy information
-Multiple treatments needed on large lesions
-Bleeding/blistering
2-3 freeze/thaw cycles in office have been shown to be highly effective at lesion resolution. These freeze/thaw cycles damage the cells within the growth and allow the body to ‘clean-up’ the site. These cycles take seconds with the procedure lasting only a minute or 2.
After freezing is performed (in the short term), there may be local burning, throbbing, edema, and erythema. A few hours in, you may notice a hemorrhagic blister. In the days to weeks following therapy, you may notice, edema, blisters, crusts, and dead tissue that eventually sloughs off.
Sometimes, larger lesions need additional freeze/thaw cycles to fully penetrate the tissue. If needed, we will recommend repeating the cycles a few weeks after the initial therapy.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns or if there is a pesky wart that you want to freeze away! Stay cool out there.
Mark Belyeu, DVM