Cryosurgery for common skin lesions. Treatment in family physicians' offices.

OBJECTIVE: To review the principles of use, common techniques, and effectiveness of cryosurgery for common skin lesions that can be treated by family physicians in their offices.

QUALITY OF EVIDENCE: MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database controlled trials register (1998 version) were searched. Much of the evidence for the effectiveness of cryosurgery or cryotherapy is based on of cryosurgery for treating common warts, external genital warts, lentigines, and basal cell carcinomas. Many of the trials reviewed were conducted in specialty clinics and, therefore, the results might not apply accurately to family practice.

MAIN MESSAGE: Evidence from case report and series suggests that cryosurgery is effective for actinic keratoses, seborrheic keratoses, dermatofibroma, keloids, molluscum contagiosum, and benign nevi. Randomized comparative trials show that, for external genital warts, cryosurgery is more effective than podophyllin treatment, better than or equal to trichloroacetic acid, but less effective than electrodesiccation or surgical removal. Prospective randomized trials of cryosurgery for common warts showed that weekly cryotherapy produced more rapid cures, but the overall cure rate depended on number of treatments. Two freeze-thaw cycles and paring before freezing improved the cure rate for plantar warts.