cryosurgery
Meaning of cryosurgery: Cryosurgery destroys abnormal or diseased tissue by freezing it, most often with liquid nitrogen or a pressurized cooling gas.
Definition of cryosurgery
Cryosurgery is a procedure that destroys abnormal or unwanted tissue by freezing it, typically using liquid nitrogen or a pressurized gas such as argon delivered through a probe or spray applicator. The extreme cold causes ice crystals to form within the targeted cells, rupturing them and cutting off their blood supply, so the destroyed tissue is gradually reabsorbed or sheds away.
Cryosurgery is used to remove skin lesions such as warts and certain precancerous growths, to treat abnormal cells on the cervix, and, in more specialized settings, to destroy tumors in organs such as the prostate or liver under imaging guidance.
Because the freezing can be controlled in depth and area, cryosurgery allows destruction of a targeted zone of tissue while limiting injury to the surrounding area, though the treated site typically blisters, sheds, or scars as it heals.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Cryosurgery was used to remove the wart from the patient's finger.
Good to know
Cryosurgery destroys tissue in place rather than removing it, so the treated area typically blisters and sheds over subsequent days rather than healing as a clean surgical incision would.
Word origin
Where “cryosurgery” comes from
Formed from Greek kryos, meaning cold or frost, combined with the surgical suffix from cheirourgia, meaning work done by hand.