Learn More About Moderate to Severe Dysplastic Nevus
Your biopsy showed a very abnormal mole, but not melanoma. It is not a skin cancer, but needs to be fully removed by an excision. The mole is abnormal enough that the pathologist is concerned about it. Studies in the dermatology literature have shown that some dermatopathologists would call something like your mole an abnormal mole, but some might actually call it an early melanoma. So, we treat them the same way.
Your dermatologist cuts out the abnormal mole and an area of normal-looking skin around it (called a surgical margin). A surgical margin helps ensure the entire lesion is adequately removed. The size of the margin depends on how abnormal the cells are, generally about 5 millimeters around the site for these lesions.
In an excision, the area around the abnormal mole is numbed like in a skin biopsy with an injection of local anesthesia.
Then, a margin of normal-appearing skin around the area is cut out and the wound is closed with stitches. In all cases, the tissue removed will be sent to the pathology lab and analyzed to make sure the margins are clear and the spot has been removed.
There is generally little to no wound care required at home. Stitches usually stay in between 10-14 days on the trunk and extremities, depending on the site of the surgery.
Activity like vigorous exercise, tennis, or golf may be limited during that time until stitches come out. In addition, there can be no underwater submersion until the stitches have been removed. This means no swimming or baths until then. Showering after the pressure bandage has been removed, 48 hours after surgery, is fine.
The risks of the procedure are small, but include bleeding, low risk of infection, further required surgery, cancer recurrence, and a scar.