First, let us pay you a compliment if you’ve visited this page because you’re preparing for the Mohs surgery. Sometimes people need more information to get a fuller insight into how the medical procedures are done, and it’s always better to look for it on the professional Internet resources.
In this article, we’ll try to cover the most common questions related to the Mohs surgery performance to help you with psychological preparation to the procedure. In case you still have questions, don’t hesitate to write them in comments below the post or contact us via telephone or email.
Preoperative consultation
Preoperative consultation allows the experts to evaluate your medical condition and overall health status, determine risk factors against the procedure, provide you with all necessary information about preparatory activities required in your case and answer your questions. Yes, it takes some time, but it will help you to reduce the risk of unnecessary postoperative complications.
From your side, it’s important to tell your surgeon about all medications and supplements you take, especially any blood-thinning medications. The best option is to make a full list of all medications, vitamins, herbal or other supplements and antibiotics you’re taking or might have to start taking and show it to your surgeon.
Procedure timing
The procedure typically lasts for 1-3 hours, but sometimes more time is required. Currently, there is no way to predict how long the surgery will take, so you should reserve the whole day for the operation.
Also, it’s good to arrive 15-20 minutes before the appointment to fill in all necessary documents and give yourself time to get used to the clinical environment.
How the Mohs Micrographic Surgery is performed
1) You’ll have a short interview with our experts. At this stage it’s important to let the nursing staff know if you’re allergic to any typical anesthetics;
2) The procedure starts with a close-up photo of an affected area;
3) The skin in the operated area will be sanitized, and you’ll get a local injection of an anesthetic;
4) The surgeon will remove the first layer of skin for the microscopic examination;
5) Immediately after this the nurse will treat the wound and put a bandage on it, so you will be able to take a break while the skin tissue is examined;
6) At the second stage, you’ll get an additional injection of anesthetics, and the surgeon will excise residual tissues affected by skin cancer. The procedure typically consists of two excisions, but sometimes the “roots” of the tumor are deeper than average, and some additional iterations might be required;
7) When the skin cancer is totally removed, we’ll take a photo of the postoperative area and discuss the cosmetic reconstruction;
8) If you want to, you will be able to check the operated area immediately after the surgery is done.
To make this day more comfortable, wear loose, cozy clothes and take your favorite magazine or an interesting book to pass the time required for tissues examination. Don’t miss a normal breakfast, but it’s good to avoid sweet desserts. Don’t take alcohol two days before and two days after the surgery, as it would negatively affect the wound healing and actually increase the stress from the procedure.
Any questions left?
Please contact us for a consultation in case we’ve missed something you might want to know about the way the Mohs Micrographic Surgery is performed.
