Adrián Ríos, MD
What are skin cysts?
They can be small and numerous balls that appear on the skin of the face or larger ones that usually appear on the rest of the body, especially on the back. They are formed by “trapping” of keratin, which is the protein that makes up the skin and that we peel off every day. Hence the name “Ipidermoid cyst”
How are skin cysts removed with laser?
Some very small ones may disappear spontaneously or through very discreet manipulation with needles. When they are deeper and larger, they displace neighboring tissues and can stick to the segment of skin where they originated, sometimes visualizing a small hole. Surgical resection is the norm. Some treaters prefer to inject them with steroids but complications such as atrophy and depigmentation of the skin, enlargement of blood vessels and persistence of the cyst occur.
Why is laser used to remove skin cysts?
In smaller cysts, they can be unroofed and extracted; In larger ones, the laser facilitates dissection and extraction, better respecting the edges to close the incision.
In larger ones, complete removal of the capsule that surrounds the cyst is necessary. Dissection under a microscope and control of bleeding allows for a cleaner and clearer resection.
What to do when the cyst is inflamed?
In these cases, the purulent material should be drained and a gauze “wick” placed to change daily until closure is ensured.
Why do scalp cysts have to be operated on?
They grow and sometimes become more numerous. They tend to be recurrent even after surgery.
When do villous cysts appear?
They usually appear on the trunk of adolescents and young adults. They are characterized by having villous stems inside the cysts and are called eruptive villous cysts. A solitary villous cyst with terminal hair may occur, most of the time only on the head and neck.
Are there congenital cysts?
There is another rare type of cyst on the head and neck, normally present from birth, resulting from the sequestration of skin tissue in the embryonic closure lines. In particular, it is located around the orbits and its capsule contains skin annexes. The hair shafts are lanugo type. They are called dermoid cysts.
Cysts on the eyelids?
Those of the epidermoid type are easily formed due to frequent scratching or rubbing. It is not uncommon to see hydrocystomas, which are transparent and ideal for laser surgery given their thin capsule.
Laser assisted removal of epidermoid cysts with laser.
Milia
