Cryosurgery

At Elands Veterinary Clinic we have been using cryosurgery for a number of years to treat a variety of skin tumours in dogs, cats and horses. But what is cryosurgery?

Cryosurgery, sometimes referred to as cryotherapy or cryoablation, is a surgical technique in which freezing is used to destroy undesirable tissues. Although the prefix "cryo" (from the Greek word "kruos" for cold) usually refers to temperatures below 120 K (the definition adopted by the XIII Congress of the International Institute of Refrigeration), cryosurgery deals with temperatures below the freezing temperature of tissue, i.e. about 273 K. The history of cryosurgery is relatively short and is closely intertwined with developments in low temperature physics, engineering, and instrumentation that were made during the last century.

Cryosurgery often involves a cycle of treatments in which the tumor is frozen, allowed to thaw, and then refrozen.

What are the advantages of cryosurgery?

Cryosurgery offers some advantages over other methods of cancer treatment. It is less invasive than surgery, involving only a small incision or insertion of the cryoprobe through the skin. Consequently, pain, bleeding, and other complications of surgery are minimized. Cryosurgery is less expensive than other treatments and requires shorter recovery time. Because the surgeon can focus cryosurgical treatment on a limited area, they can avoid the destruction of nearby healthy tissue. The treatment can be safely repeated and may be used along with standard treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Furthermore, cryosurgery may offer an option for treating cancers that are considered inoperable or that do not respond to standard treatments.

What are the disadvantages of cryosurgery?

The major disadvantage of cryosurgery is the uncertainty surrounding its long-term effectiveness, particularly in aggressive or malignant tumours. While cryosurgery may be effective in treating tumors made visible to the physician through imaging tests (tests that produce pictures of areas inside the body), it can miss microscopic cancer spread.

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