Is cryotherapy treating or infecting?
Register to be notified of new articles by e-mail – Current contents list – ©MJA1997 Cryotherapy has become an indispensable tool in the treatment of benign dermatological lesions and some premalignant and malignant lesions.1 As early as the mid-1800s, clinicians used freezing agents as ablative therapy; initially using a salt-ice mixture which was later replaced by liquefied gases, such as air, oxygen and nitrogen. Other freezing agents still in use include liquid refrigerants and solid carbon dioxide.1 Of all the cryotherapeutic freezing agents, liquid nitrogen is the agent of choice. The properties which have made liquid nitrogen popular in clinical medicine include its low boiling point (-196oC) and inertness, relatively easy availability and handling, affordability and good compliance. Liquid nitrogen causes cellular death by formation of intracellular and extracellular crystals (inducing dehydration), and damage to blood vessels.2,3 Irreversible vascular occlusion results from er
