Plantar wart surgery

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Surgery

First-line therapy	Over the counter salicylic acid
Second-line therapy	Cryosurgery, intralesional immunotherapy, or pulsed dye laser therapy
Third-line therapy	Bleomycin, surgical excision

Liquid nitrogen : Cryosurgery with liquid nitrogen. A common treatment that works by producing a blister under the wart. It is painful but usually nonscarring.
Electrodesiccation and surgical excision produce scarring. If the wart recurs, the patient has a permanent scar along with the wart.
Lasers may be effective, especially the 585nm pulsed dye laser which the most effective treatment of all, and does not leave scars, but is generally a last resort treatment as it is expensive and painful, and multiple laser treatments are required (generally 4-6 treatments repeated once a month until the wart disappears).
Cauterization – This may be effective as a prolonged treatment. As a short-term treatment, cauterization of the base with anaesthetic can be effective, but this method risks scars or keloids. Subsequent surgical removal is unnecessary, and risks keloids and recurrence in the operative scar.

Surgery