If your wound is closed by some means, the recovery is more simple because you don't have an open wound to manage. If, however, the wound is left open to heal secondarily by itself, there are dressing changes to deal with and a few weeks of inconvenience dealing with the healing wound.
Mohs is a technique for removal of skin cancers by a specially trained group of dermatologists (often called Mohs specialists or Mohs surgeons). The principle advantage of the Mohs technique is that the same physician that removes the skin cancer also subsequently examines the removed skin cancer and surrounding margin of normal skin under a microscope to make sure that the skin cancer has been completely removed. The patient is kept in the Mohs specialists' office and the wound is not repaired until the skin cancer has been completely removed. The Mohs specialist therefore acts as both the dermatologist and the pathologist. After successful removal of the skin cancer reconstructive surgery is performed to repair the hole (defect). Depending on a number factors such as patient preference, size and location of the defect, complexity of the defect, aesthetic expectations of the patient, and need for sedation, the resulting defect may be either repaired by a plastic surgeon or by the Mohs specialist.
The Mohs technique allows for mapping of the removed tumor so that when a portion of the tumor is left behind, it can be seen under the microscope and it can be determined roughly where in the wound it is located. If the tumor was not completely removed the first time, more tissue is removed (this is called the second stage) and again subsequently examined until the skin cancer has been completely removed.
This process can take several stages and many hours to complete but offers the patient a very high (close to 97%) success rate in removal of the skin cancer as measured by lack of recurrence (meaning the skin cancer coming back in the same spot in a few years).
The dermatologist performing the Mohs procedure may also perform the reconstruction (plastic surgery repair) of the defect left after removal of the cancer. The decision of whether the Mohs specialist or a plastic surgeon performs the reconstruction depends on a number of factors:
Recovery (measured in terms of time off from work or social activities) can take between several days to several weeks based on the size, complexity, and location of the defect.
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