Mohs Surgery

Mohs surgery is the most advanced, precise, and effective treatment for numerous skin cancers. The highly skilled providers at Kessel Dermatology, servicing the Hamilton Square, Trenton, and Mercer County areas in New Jersey, include dermatologists with advanced training and experience in Mohs surgery. To schedule a consultation with the experts to find out more about Mohs surgery for skin cancer, call the office or book an appointment online today. 

What is Mohs surgery?

Mohs surgery, also called Mohs micrographic surgery, is one of the most effective treatments for skin cancer. 

During the surgery, your provider at Kessel Dermatology removes the cancerous lesion one layer at a time, minimizing damage to the healthy surrounding tissue. They examine each layer as it’s removed, continuing to remove layers until they reach the area that’s 100% cancer free.

Kessel Dermatology is proud to offer this cosmetically optimal, tissue-sparing surgery at their office, evaluating the skin layers at their state-of-the-art tissue-processing laboratory. 

What does Mohs surgery treat?

Kessel Dermatology performs Mohs surgery to treat many types of skin cancer, including basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). They recommend Mohs surgery for these two common types of cancers when they’re:

• Large and aggressive
• In obvious areas
• A recurring problem

Kessel Dermatology may also use Mohs surgery to treat early-stage melanoma. 

What happens during Mohs surgery?

Your provider at Kessel Dermatology performs your Mohs surgery at the office. Though you’re not in the surgical room the whole time, the entire process may take several hours.

Your provider first examines your skin and prepares you for surgery, cleaning your skin with an antiseptic agent and injecting a local anesthetic. Once the area is numb, your provider removes the visible skin cancer and a thin layer of surrounding tissue. 

Your provider bandages your wound and takes the skin samples to the lab for evaluation. If they find any cancer cells, your provider removes another layer of tissue to examine. They repeat this process until they no longer find any cancer cells in the tissue sample.

What happens after Mohs surgery?

After your Mohs surgery, your provider at Kessel Dermatology treats your surgical wound. Treatment varies depending on the size of your wound. Patients only need a bandage in some cases, while others may need stitches or a skin graft.

Your provider at Kessel Dermatology schedules follow-up visits to monitor healing and routine visits to check your skin for new cancerous growths. Mohs surgery has a high cure rate. 

To learn more about Mohs surgery for skin cancer, call Kessel Dermatology or schedule an appointment online today.