An angioma is a benign tumor made up of small blood vessels that does not often cause pain or discomfort. Angioma treatment can be a technically difficult procedure and must be done in a doctor’s office. There are a number of different treatments available, including the use of liquid nitrogen, electrodesiccation, or laser vaporization. It is only necessary to receive angioma treatment if the angioma is painful or bleeding.
For most patients, angioma treatment is not necessary. The condition rarely causes pain or discomfort and often goes unnoticed by the patient. If the angioma bleeds or is painful it can be removed by a doctor. The growth is made up of blood vessels, so it is important that a patient not try to remove one without the assistance of a doctor because the angioma can bleed quite a bit if cut.
The use of liquid nitrogen is one common angioma treatment. Liquid nitrogen, which is kept at -328 degrees Fahrenheit (-200 degrees C), is sprayed on the skin. The extremely low temperature of the nitrogen freezes the angioma and destroys it. Doctors are able to isolate the area around the angioma which makes it possible not to harm much of the tissue around the tumor.
Another common angioma treatment is electrodesiccation. In this procedure, a doctor will touch the affected area with a needle that is hooked up to an electric current. The current passes through the needle and onto the angioma, which is destroyed.
Many patients chose to have an angioma removed from the skin as a cosmetic surgery. Angioma treatment with laser vaporization is a good choice for patients concerned about the way an angioma looks because the use of lasers allows for a very precise removal of the tumor. The laser uses heat to burn off the angioma and does little damage to the surrounding tissue.
An angioma that is inside the body usually does not need to be removed because most angiomas pose very little risk to the patient. Angiomas in the brain may be treated in a similar way to those near the surface of the skin or, occasionally, may be removed surgically. Surgery to remove an angioma is only done rarely due to the risk of blood loss and the benign nature of the angioma. There is no guarantee that a surgically removed angioma will not re-emerge after the surgery is completed.
