title: Debulking of skin cancers with radio frequency before cryosurgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of prior debulking of skin cancers, by curettage, is to prepare the lesion for cryosurgical treatment. The main inconveniences of that procedure are the nearly always inevitable hemorrhage and the time necessary to control it.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a study consisting of debulking skin tumors with radiosurgery, prior to cryosurgery, on a series of 38 patients (31 basal cell carcinomas, six squamous cell carcinomas, and one Bowen's disease), meeting the classical indications for cryotherapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The advantages of the latter procedure over the traditional debulking by curettage are: the time needed to perform a biopsy, with easy and fast control of the bleeding, is considerably shortened; the whole procedure can be easily performed in one single session; the required surgical material also is greatly reduced; and the treatment can be performed on an out-patient regimen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Hospital Distrital de Santarém, Portugal.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martins
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D003452:Cryosurgery; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016634:Radiosurgery; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome