About Cryosurgery

Cryosurgery is minimally invasive treatment of controlled destruction of unwanted tissue by the application of extreme cold. Cryosurgery is used to treat different types of lesions on the skin such as skin tags, warts and many more. Rapid freezing to -27°C and more will produce cryonecrosis in all benign human tissues. Although necrosis takes place at -27°C we have to take into consideration the body temperature, so the treatment needs to be done at least -64°C. Nitrous oxide rapidly freezes and destroys targeted cells but it’s not so cold as to cause unwanted damage to the surrounding healthy tissue. Nitrous oxide works at -89°C as cold as you can go without causing tissue damage. Liquid nitrogen is -196°C and provides a much higher the risk of damage. The CryoPen applicator is designed for precision and allows a focused gas flow that targets only thelesion and provides pinpoint accuracy during the treatment. Cryosurgery using liquid nitrogen involves the use of a cryoprobe or a cotton-tipped applicator that could be less precise than the CryoPen. This is why nitrous oxide is now favoured over liquid nitrogen.