title: Surgical management of premalignant lesions of the oral cavity with the CO2 laser.
abstract: The management of patients with premalignant and malignant lesions of the oral cavity can present problems. The potentially invasive nature of premalignant lesions together with their large extent influences the treatment. The common modalities of treatment of these lesions are surgical excision, cryotherapy, electrosurgery and radiotherapy. Recently, CO2 laser surgery has become available. Less pain, little bleeding, minimal post-operative edema, reduced risk of infection, and low recurrence rates were advantages observed following CO2 laser surgery in the mouth when compared to other modalities of treatment. Healing following CO2 laser surgery progressed well with little postoperative scarring and re-epithelialization was complete after 4-6 weeks. The newly formed epithelium appeared normal and was soft on palpation.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Prótese e Cirurgia Buco-Facial, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Frame
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000601:surgery*; D014060:Tongue Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide