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CryotherapyAka: Liquid Nitrogen, LN2

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  1. Indications for Cryotherapy
    1. See Margin sizes below under technique
    2. Short freeze times (5 seconds after freeze ball forms)
      1. Actinic Keratoses
      2. Skin Tags
      3. Lentigines
    3. Moderate freeze times (10 seconds after freeze ball)
      1. Common Wart
      2. Cherry Angioma (consider cryoprobe)
      3. Cutaneous horn
      4. Oral Mucocele (consider cryoprobe)
      5. Pyogenic Granuloma
      6. Sebaceous Hyperplasia (consider cryoprobe)
    4. Longer freeze times (20 seconds after freeze ball)
      1. Hypertrophic Scar or Keloid
      2. Seborrheic Keratoses
      3. Dermatofibroma
      4. Digital Mucous Cysts
  2. Contraindications to Cryotherapy
    1. Malignancy
  3. Mechanism
    1. Liquid nitrogen boils at -196 C (-320 F)
    2. Skin temp down to -25 to -50 C (-13 to -58) at 30 secs
      1. Benign lesions destroyed at -20 C(-4 F)
      2. Malignant lesions destroyed at -40 C (-40 F)
    3. Skin lesion destruction
      1. Results from intracellular ice formation
      2. Inflammation occurs within 24 hours of cryotherapy
  4. Storage of Liquid Nitrogen
    1. Store liquid nitrogen in proper container (e.g. Dewar)
      1. Prevents serious explosion
      2. Container should allow some leakage/evaporation
      3. Storage vessel should be metal lined (Not glass)
    2. Do NOT pour liquid nitrogen back into Dewar after use
      1. Can contaminate main supply
      2. HPV, HSV, and Hepatitis viable for years at -196 C
    3. Static Holding time in a standard Dewar
      1. Volume 5L: 6 days
      2. Volume 10L: 45 days
      3. Volume 25L: 110 days
      4. Volume 35L: 110 days
      5. Volume 45L: 125 days
  5. Risks
    1. Hypopigmentation (Melanocytes are very cold sensitive)
    2. Hyperpigmentation (in darker skinned individuals)
    3. Atrophy in skin areas directly over bone (eg. forehead)
    4. Neuropathy where nerves are superficial (e.g. elbow)
  6. Precautions
    1. Test on only a few warts at first
    2. Avoid use in distal extremities in high-risk patients
      1. Raynaud's Syndrome
      2. Acrosclerosis or Scleroderma
      3. Peripheral Neuropathy
        1. Diabetes Mellitus
        2. Leprosy
      4. Peripheral Vascular Disease
    3. Do not use in cold Urticaria
    4. Avoid use in young children (too painful)
    5. Avoid in periungual sites
      1. Excessive pain
      2. Risk of subungual hemorrhage
      3. Risk of nail dystrophy from matrix destruction
    6. Use cautiously near superficial nerves
      1. Especially
        1. Distal sides of the fingertips
        2. Temples (lateral canthus to sideburns)
      2. Risk of nerve injury
      3. Move skin frequently while applying cryotherapy
        1. Reduces deeper freezing
  7. Anesthesia
    1. Consider EMLA 90 minutes before treatment
    2. Tylenol beforehand also effective
  8. Technique
    1. Debulking prior to Cryotherapy
      1. Carefully pare wart with #15 blade
      2. Increases chance of success
      3. If bleeding occurs, carefully apply 88% TCA
    2. Isolate lesion
      1. Lifting and pinching lesion between gloved fingers
        1. Reduces pain and increases response
      2. Consider using plastic otoscope nasal speculum tip
        1. Hold over the lesion
        2. Localizes cryotherapy without spread
      3. Open cone shield
        1. Specific to direct cryotherapy
        2. Used in similar fashion to otoscope tip
    3. Apply Liquid Nitrogen
      1. Margin sizes
        1. Benign lesion: 1-2 mm margin
        2. Premalignancy: 2-3 mm margin
        3. Malignancy: 4-5 mm margin
      2. Cotton Applicator
        1. Warn about burning pain (lasts 15-30 minutes)
        2. Bulk up cotton applicator with added cotton wisps
        3. Shape or twirl cotton tip to size of wart
        4. Touch cotton tip to wart without pressure
          1. Allow gravity to feed the liquid nitrogen
        5. Allow ice ball to extend 1-2mm beyond wart margin
          1. Achieved in 15-45 seconds
        6. Freeze, Allow to Slowly Thaw, and then refreeze
      3. Cryospray unit (Spray gun)
        1. Precautions
          1. Spray unit freezes tissue more rapidly, deeply
          2. Avoid use near eyes, nose or lips
            1. Uncomfortable for patient
            2. Use cotton applicator here instead
          3. When using spray near ear canals
            1. Plug Ear canals with cotton
        2. Technique
          1. Isolate lesion with techniques above
          2. Hold spray tip 1-2 cm from target
          3. Squeeze trigger gently or in brief pulses
          4. Use paintbrush, spiral or rotary technique
          5. Timed spot freeze technique most common
            1. Consider marking desired margin around lesion
              1. See above for recommended margin size
            2. Spray to form margin around lesion
              1. Divide lesion into segments if >2 cm
            3. Maintain constant spray pressure
              1. Keep target frozen for adequate time
              2. Freeze duration may range from 5-30 seconds
            4. Allow lesion to thaw completely (2-5 minutes)
            5. Repeat freeze-thaw cycle as needed
      4. Cryoprobe
        1. Small probe attched to spray gun nozzle
        2. Indications
          1. Small facial lesions
          2. Vascular lesions
  9. Follow-up Care
    1. Antibiotic ointment (Bacitracin) and dressing
    2. Anticipatory Guidance
      1. Pre-printed handouts
      2. Hemorrhagic Blister usually occurs in 12-24 hours
        1. Leave intact (acts as a dressing)
        2. If Tense and painful, it may be drained
    3. Re-evaluation in 2-3 weeks
  10. Efficacy
    1. Studies showing efficacy compared with Placebo lacking
    2. More aggressive cryotherapy appears more effective
      1. However, higher risk for complications
    3. References
      1. Gibbs (2002) BMJ 325:461
  11. References
    1. Hocutt in Pfenninger (1994) Procedures, p. 102-20
    2. Andrews (2004) Am Fam Physician 69:2365

Cold Therapy (C0010412)

Definition (MSH)A form of therapy consisting in the local or general use of cold. The selective destruction of tissue by extreme cold or freezing is CRYOSURGERY. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)
Definition (CSP)form of therapy consisting of the local or general use of cold.
Definition (NCI)Any method that uses cold temperature to treat disease.
Definition (NCI)The therapeutic use of cold or refrigeration in medicine.
Definition (NCI)The application of cold to appropriate painful areas to reduce inflammation immediately after an injury.
ConceptsTherapeutic or Preventive Procedure (T061)
EnglishCOLD THER, Cold Therapies, Cold Therapy, Cooling therapy, CRYOTHER, Cryotherapies, cryotherapy, Cryotherapy - action, Cryotherapy - physiotherapeutic, THER COLD, Therapeutic application of cold, Therapeutic Cold, Therapy by cooling
Spanishaplicacion terapeutica de frio, crioterapia, crioterapia - accion
Parent Conceptshypothermia, induced (C0020674), Therapeutic procedure (C0087111), The science and art of healing (C0039796), Pain management (C0002766), Actions by modality (C0579001), Destructive procedure (surgical) (C1261381), Procedure by device (C1285536), Duplicate concept (C1274013), Procedure by method (C1292784)
SourcesCSP, MSH, MTH, NCI, PDQ, SCTSPA, SNOMEDCT
Derived from the NIH UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)


Liquid nitrogen (C0260055)

ConceptsElement, Ion, or Isotope (T196)
EnglishLiquid nitrogen, LN - Liquid nitrogen
Spanishnitrogeno liquido
Parent ConceptsNitrogen (C0028158)
SourcesLCH, MTH, SCTSPA, SNOMEDCT
Derived from the NIH UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)



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