Cryotherapy of intraoral leukoplakia

Use of the carbon dioxide laser in the Management of premalignant lesions of the oral Mucosa

“…This procedure destroys the white patch with little contracture or scarring afterwards. Results, however, have been disappointing, and Sako et al (1972), who treated 60 patients with oral leukoplakia, found that 12 patients had recurrences and four patients developed squamous cell carcinoma in or adjacent to the treated area, during a follow-up period ranging from 2\ to A\ years. (c) Radiotherapy is sometimes used to treat oral leukoplakia with histological evidence of carcinoma in situ.…”

Nitrous oxide cryotherapy for the management of benign lesions of the oral cavity

“…4 Cryotherapy is a suitable alternative and can be carried out using an open or closed system. [4][5][6][7] In practice, application of low temperatures by the delivery of cryogens causes deliberate destruction of tissue through cryogenic coagulation and necrosis. Cryotherapy is a minimally painful, minimally scarring procedure which typically does not cause bleeding, and has a history of effective lesion eradication and low risk of secondary infections.…”

“…7 However, limitations associated with the inability of cotton swabs to carry sufficient quantities of cryogen and maintain a sufficiently low temperature exist. 6 Furthermore, use of a liquid nitrogen spray is discouraged for intraoral use as it lacks control over temperature, area of cryogen exposure, and depth of cryogen penetration. 6 By comparison, the closed system uses a complex instrument known as a cryoprobe, which initiates a decrease in tissue temperature by the Joule-Thomson expansion principle.…”

“…6 Furthermore, use of a liquid nitrogen spray is discouraged for intraoral use as it lacks control over temperature, area of cryogen exposure, and depth of cryogen penetration. 6 By comparison, the closed system uses a complex instrument known as a cryoprobe, which initiates a decrease in tissue temperature by the Joule-Thomson expansion principle. 8 This refers to the movement of cryogen (nitrous oxide) from the high-pressure unit within the cryoprobe into the low-pressure cryoprobe tip and results in a drop in temperature at the site of tissue contact.…”

Cryogun cryotherapy for oral leukoplakia and adjacent melanosis lesions

“…Although oral leukoplakia lesions can be eradicated by surgical excision, laser surgery (2), and photodynamic therapy (3), cryotherapy is also an effective and alternative treatment modality for oral leukoplakia lesions (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). Cryotherapy is a method which locally destroys lesional tissues by freezing in situ (17).…”