What does electrosurgery treat?

An electrosurgical unit delivers controlled electrical energy through an instrument chosen for the lesion and the intended effect. A clinician may use heat to destroy tissue, seal small blood vessels, or remove a projecting surface growth. The method can be considered for benign lesions such as cherry angiomas, venous lakes, syringomas, and dermatosis papulosa nigra, and for selected warts, including some genital warts.

The lesion should be identified before treatment. A changing, bleeding, pigmented, or uncertain growth may need examination or another procedure rather than electrosurgery. Treatment is local and does not prevent new lesions caused by an underlying infection or skin tendency.

Tell the clinician about pacemakers or implanted electrical devices, medicines that affect bleeding, allergies to local anaesthetic, and a history of raised scars or slow healing. Follow wound-care instructions carefully: keep the area clean, avoid picking a crust, and protect healing skin from friction and sun exposure. The treated site may be tender, red, or crusted while it heals, and pigment or scarring can occur depending on the lesion and your skin.

Seek advice if pain, swelling, warmth, discharge, or redness is increasing, or if you develop fever. Arrange review if a treated lesion returns, fails to heal, or changes after treatment. A new or changing lesion should be assessed before cosmetic removal so that an important diagnosis is not missed.

Ask what the lesion is, why electrosurgery is suitable, whether tissue will be sent for testing, and what healing changes to expect. Discuss alternatives, anaesthetic, wound care, pigment change, scarring, and signs that require a review.