Hemostatic excision of skin tags

Muhammed Mukhtar

doi:10.25259/CSDM_133_2022

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Innovations

2022

:2;

111

doi:

10.25259/CSDM_133_2022

Hemostatic excision of skin tags

Muhammed Mukhtar_MD

Department of Dermatology, Mukhtar Skin Centre, Katihar Medical College Road, Katihar, Bihar, India.

*Corresponding author: Muhammed Mukhtar, Department of Dermatology, Mukhtar Skin Centre, Katihar Medical College Road, Katihar - 854105, Bihar, India. drmmukhtar20@gmail.com

Received: 2022-10-30, Accepted: 2022-11-04, Published: 2022-11-16

Licence

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, transform, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

How to cite this article: Mukhtar M. Hemostatic excision of skin tags. CosmoDerma 2022;2:111.

PROBLEM

Skin tags are quite common benign skin lesions. Radiofrequency, cryosurgery, adhesive tape, and artery forceps are among the procedures used to apply external pressure to the base of a skin tag to strangle and or coagulate the feeding vessels.^[1-5] Skin tag feeding vessels are easily collapsible, and they can be compressed by ligating the pedicle with thread. On this basis, the authors proposed a bloodless skin tag removal technique. However, the basic idea behind this approach has been around for a long time. Long before cryotherapy, electrosurgery, and radiofrequency for bloodless surgery, the pedicle of the papillomatous lesion (skin tags and viral warts) was tied with horsetail hair to strangulate the feeding vessels to cause fall off the lesions.

SOLUTION

Under asepsis, the pedicles of the skin tags were caught with a forceps before ligation with a sterile thread [Figure 1a and b]. After this, the ligated tags are severed using iris scissors from their base, distal, to the ligation. After 5–7 min, the ligated thread was manually removed [Figure 1c and d]. There was no bleeding once the ligated thread was removed. If several lesions are to be cut, first ligate all the tags and then cut them. As a result, ligated skin tag removal surgery is an alternative hemostatic technique. The disadvantage of this technique is that it is only applicable to pedunculated skin tags that can be ligated.

(a and b) The skin tag is prepared and caught with a forceps before ligation with a thread. (c and d) The ligated skin tag is cut and hemostasis at the site after removal of ligation.

Declaration of patient consent

Patient’s consent not required as patients identity is not disclosed or compromised.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

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