Minor Surgery

Minor Surgery is any surgical procedure that does not involve general anaesthesia or respiratory assistance during the surgical procedure.

Minor Surgery procedures include, for example:

• Skin tags
• Skin cysts
• Incision and drainage of an abscess
• Warts
• Mole removal
• Biopsy of growths
• Verrucae’s
• Joint injections

Minor surgery is usually carried out on an out-patient basis in the GP Surgery. Prior to any minor surgery the doctor will conduct an initial consult to confirm a diagnosis and a plan for the procedure and gain informed consent. The only part of minor surgery that may hurt is when the local anaesthetic is administered, after this the procedure is pain free. The length of time the procedure will take is dependent on the condition being treated and can range from 10 minutes to a half hour or more. Your doctor will also advise if more visits are required to treat your condition.

After minor surgery:

• Should you have a wound, your doctor will give you instructions on how to look after it in order to keep it clean and free of infection until it has healed
• You may also need to take painkillers to relieve any discomfort or antibiotics to prevent infection
• After some minor surgery you may feel a little faint or uncomfortable and may need someone to take you home
• You will be given a follow-up appointment and you may also need to have stitches removed

For some procedures it is also normal to send off a tissue sample for histology. Your doctor will follow up with the results.