Excision

Surgical removal of tissue with primary wound closure.

In order to achieve tension-free wound closure, the course of the skin tension lines (Relaxed Skin Tension Lines according to Borges) must be taken into account in the first instance. In the face, for example, the incision line is mainly dependent on the aesthetic units as well as facial expression and ageing wrinkles. Primary wound closure is not always easy. For larger defects, stretching, skin flap plasty or free grafts are necessary for closure. Small dermal and epidermal skin changes can usually be excised in a spindle shape. In contrast, subcutaneous skin lesions such as lipomas and epidermoid cysts can be mobilized subcutaneously through short scalpel incisions with the dissecting scissors and brought to the surface by slight lateral pressure or suctioned off with a liposuction unit.