Cryosurgery & Colposcopy: Practices, Outcomes & Potential Complications

Cryosurgery is a common procedure, known for thousands of years. Cryoablation causes tissue necrosis by freezing the targeted tissues. Necrosis results from the freezing and thawing of cells (crystallisation water) and the sequestration of the dead tissue by the organism. After removal of the lesion, regeneration through the layering of a new epithelium starts. Cryosurgery is a safe procedure which does not cause pain or bleeding. It may be performed in an outpatient clinic and premedication is not necessary. The first section of this book focuses on cryosurgery. Chapter One examines the use of cryosurgery in otolaryngology. Chapter Two addresses all clinical aspects of cryosurgery, summarises the current status of cryosurgery in the treatment guidelines along with the technical success and clinical outcomes of this technique, and compares it to other ablative techniques including the most recent ones such as irreversible electroporation (IRE), and high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Furthermore, it discusses the future perspectives of cryosurgery in management of small renal tumors. The second section of the book reviews colposcopies. Chapter Three addresses the different colposcopic findings in squamous and glandular cervical lesions, and demonstrates the performance of colposcopy in cervical intraepithelial lesions diagnosis. Chapter Four reviews the characteristics, risk factors, methods for screening the diagnosis of, and the role of colposcopy in making the diagnosis of Vaginal Intraepithelial Neoplasia (VaIN). Chapter Five studies the use of vaginal vault cytology after a hysterectomy. Chapter Six critically reviews the causes, risk factors and management of Postcoital bleeding (PCB) in an attempt to outline a unified guidance based on the best available evidence for women and gynecologists alike. Chapter Seven reports clinical procedures, therapeutic effects, and prognosis after the use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and early stage cervical cancer. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of PDT in comparison with laser vaporisation and endocervical conisation for CIN and early stage cervical cancer. The final chapter is a commentary which provides and tests a new concept of vulcoscopy to the anatomy of the vulva, according to the differences in histological structure and embryological origin of the vulvar structures.