Role of cryosurgery in maxillofacial lesions: A literature review

Abstract

Cryosurgery has the ability to produce very low temperatures which causes tissue destruction. It has been found to be effective for oral cavity lesions of the infants, elderly patients and also of the immunocompromised patients. Cryosurgery is a very safe, easy to perform, and relatively inexpensive technique for treating various oral injuries on an outpatient basis. It is an atraumatic form of therapy compared to conventional surgery. Liquid nitrogen spray or cryoprobe has been used alone or in combination with other surgical methods in various types of oral lesions. According to various studies and literature, cryosurgery has been found to be effective for the treatment of refractory trigeminal neuralgia and TMJ pain, as it provides longer pain free interval than the other treatment modalities. It has been utilized as an effective method for the treatment of benign conditions like gingival pigmentation, inflammatory papillary hyperplasia, mucocele; premalignant conditions like leukoplakia, lichen planus and as a palliative therapy for malignant conditions like erythroplakia, squamous cell carcinoma. In hypertrophic scars, as an adjuvant therapy after enucleation for odontogenic lesions like ameloblastomas, keratocysts and for vascular lesions like capillary hemangiomas it has been found to be beneficial.