How is Mohs surgery performed?
Mohs surgery is performed on an outpatient basis. First, local anesthesia is used to numb the tumor site. Then, as much of the visible tumor as possible is taken off by scraping with a special instrument. A thin layer of skin at the tumor site is then removed and examined under a microscope. If evidence of tumor cells is found at the edges of the sample, the doctor will remove and examine another skin sample. These steps will be repeated until no tumor can be detected under microscope. Depending on the extent of the tumor, this process may be repeated several times. Although the actual surgery involved in each sampling takes only 20 minutes, the entire process may take upwards of one hour per sample. As we cannot determine ahead of time how many stages you will require, be prepared to spend the entire day with us. It very rarely takes more than one day to remove a tumor.
