An excision of a skin lesion is a procedure in which your healthcare provider removes a sore or growth (a lesion) from your skin and stitches the skin back together.
Reasons for doing this procedure are:
Follow any instructions your healthcare provider may give you. No special preparation is needed for local anesthesia.
The healthcare provider cleanses the area and then numbs the skin around the lesion with a spray or shot of a local anesthetic. The anesthetic should keep you from feeling pain during the operation. Your provider cuts a football-shaped patch of skin around the lesion. He or she removes the patch of skin with the lesion and then stitches your skin together.
You may stay at the hospital or healthcare provider's office for observation for a short period of time. The area where the lesion was removed may be sore for a couple of days. When it heals, there will be a scar.
You should ask your healthcare provider:
It is important to follow the instructions your provider gives you for caring for the wound after the surgery. This can prevent infection and help create the smallest, least visible scar.
This procedure may remove the lesion, but it may not cure whatever caused the lesion to form.
The sore area may heal and stop being uncomfortable. If it was a precancerous or cancerous growth, its removal may stop the development or spread of cancer. If the lesion was caused by a disease, such as tuberculosis (TB), lab tests of the lesion may help your healthcare provider diagnose the problem.
If the removal was done to check for cancer, ask your provider when you will receive test results.
You should ask your healthcare provider how these risks apply to you.
Call your provider right away if:
Call during office hours if: