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Wart Removal With Curette

Surgery is usually considered an option of last resort for removing warts when all other methods fail. The two most popular surgical methods of removing warts currently are curetting and electrosurgery. They are usually referred to in conjunction because in many cases, both are needed. When done properly, these methods can cause almost no scarring and are almost totally effective in removing stubborn warts.

  1. How Curettage Works

    • The basic premise of curettage is to surgically shave or scrape the wart off. This is done with the help of a curetting implement, called a curette, which resembles a spoon. A surgeon's knife is also used in this process.

      Generally, the process beings when a local anesthetic--usually 1 or 2 percent procaine--is injected on the wart. Then, an incision is made around the wart. This incision is made deep enough for the curette to grasp the wart at its base. Once the curette reaches the bed of the wart, the wart is uprooted. The curette essentially clutches the wart and plucks it out. Electrosurgery, on the other hand, makes use of technology that transmits laser waves into the root of the wart to burn it. Electrosurgery is done along with curetting so that if any wart tissue is still left behind after curetting, electrosurgery deadens these cells.

    Benefits

    • Curettage has its advantages and disadvantages. The major advantage is its high rate of effectiveness, especially when combined with electrosurgery. It is estimated that curettage can assure a success rate of anywhere between 65 and 85 percent. The wart is removed once and for all, and very little trace of it is left behind. It is almost totally painless.

    Downsides

    • Wart removal by curettage can be complicated if the wart is located in a place, such as the rectum, where it is difficult to get to the base of the wart. Another major disadvantage is that using a curette can only remove the wart, which is a benign and noncancerous manifestation of an infection caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). It cannot address the HPV, which is the root cause of the growth of warts, which means once a wart is removed, only that wart is taken care of. As long as the virus is present, fresh warts can continue to occur.

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