Mohs Micrographic Surgery

Mohs surgery is a specialized treatment for removing skin cancer.  Mohs offers the highest cure rate for most skin cancers and removes the least amount of normal, healthy tissue.  Most insurance plans, including Medicare, cover Mohs surgery.

What is Mohs surgery?

Mohs surgery is the surgical removal of skin cancer layer by layer.  It is the only treatment method that allows the evaluation of skin cancer cells during the procedure.  For certain cases of basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma- the most common types of skin cancer- the cure rate can be as high as 99%.

How is Mohs surgery performed?

Mohs surgery is typically an outpatient procedure performed in a dermatologist’s office or outpatient surgical suite.  You remain awake during Mohs, and are given a local anesthetic to numb the surgical area. The use of a local anesthetic instead of general anesthesia, which puts the patient to sleep, reduces recovery time and has fewer side effects.

Once the anesthesia has taken effect, Dr. Willen removes the visible skin cancer. The tissue that is removed is examined under a microscope to determine if there are cancer cells remaining at the outer edges of the removed tissue. 

If cancer cells are still present at any edge of the removed tissue, additional layers of skin are removed until the cancer cells are no longer seen. When cancer cells are no longer seen at the removed tissue margins then the resultant skin defect can be repaired with a primary sutured closure, recruitment of a flap of adjacent tissue or with a skin graft.

The majority of cases are completed and repaired on the same day.