Cryotheraphy
|
Cryotherapy, also called cryosurgery, cryoablation or targeted cryoablation therapy, is a minimally invasive treatment that uses extreme cold to freeze and destroy diseased tissue, including cancer cells. Although cryotherapy and cryoablation can be used interchangeably, the term "cryosurgery" is reserved best for cryotherapy performed using an open, surgical approach.
In cryotherapy, liquid nitrogen or argon gas is applied to diseased cells located outside or inside the body. Physicians use image-guidance techniques such as ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) to help guide these freezing substances to treatment sites located inside the body. What are some common uses of the procedure? Cryotherapy can be applied topically, percutaneously, or surgically. Topical cryotherapy is used typically in the case of skin and eye lesions. When the lesion is situated deep to the body's surface, a therapy probe or applicator needs to be placed either through the skin (percutaneously) or directly into an organ via a large, surgical incision. |
 |
|
Cryotherapy is used to treat:
* skin tumors Research is currently being done to determine the effectiveness of cryotherapy for tumors of the bone, brain, kidney, lung, and spine. Researchers are also evaluating its usefulness in freezing and shrinking benign breast lumps, called fibroadenomas. Cryotherapy is also being used to treat other deep tumors in the body, such as the kidney, bones, lung, and breast. Although further research is needed to determine the long term effectiveness, cryotherapy has been shown to be effective in selected patients. |
|