Do you know the name for a stitchless mole removal technique?

Question

Hi. I'm looking for the name of a stitchless mole removal technique a doctor told me about, that is appropriate for small flat moles. From what I could gather, he'd use some kind of scoop and let the scar heal by itself. It sounded different from the shaving method.

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

A shave biopsy can be used to remove small epidermal moles but I use a combination of procedures to reduce scarring and minimize the need for stitches.  Surgery90210

Philip Young, MD · Answer

This could be appropriate for some moles. It is not the best choice in my opinion. The recurrence rate for this is high. Also the bigger the mole this method will lead to scarring more so in come cases than the excision of the mole.

Andrew Kaufman, MD · Answer

Your description sounds like shave removal, also know as tangential excision. This technique works best for moles (nevi) that are raised and skin colored. Pigmented nevi removed by tangential excision my result in recurrence of an irregularly pigmented nevus. Trying to remove a flat mole (as described in your case) can result in a slightly depressed scar since you can't shave the mole off flat with the surrounding skin.

Mitchell Schwartz, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

Stitchless mole removal is, by any name, a "shaving" technique. The mole is actually shaved off at a level just below the surface of the skin. This method is quite effective to remove moles and leaves a minimal scar. The procedure typically takes less than a minute, and is fairly painless. Moles that are removed in this fashion will rarely recur enough to be bothersome. If they do, they can always be excised and sutured at that time, but this rarely happens.

F. Victor Rueckl, MD (in memoriam) · Answer

Well this can be done with a scalpel which would be "shaving" the mole and often this doesn't require stitches depending on the size of the mole itself. Or it can be done with a currette, which is like a special instrument with a sharp hook on the end that scrapes the site. The difference is that if you use a scalpel you can get the entire piece off and send it to a lab for review. Using a currette scrapes and destroys the mole so it cannot be reviewed by a lab.

Do you know the name for a stitchless mole removal technique?

Answers (5)

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