Electrosurgery for Verrucas - rarely used now so for information only  

What is Electrosurgery? 

Electrosurgery involves the excision of verrucas on the sole of the foot. You may need to undergo surgery when you have not responded to conservative methods of treatment. It is a dramatic way to tackle stubborn painful verrucae. However it is painful, smelly (the smell is off putting to some) and causes a few days of painful pottering. So we do not use it very often and only in select cases.

What happens?

Electrosurgery is performed under local anaesthetic. This means that only the affected area is injected with anaesthetic and numbed. You will be awake throughout the surgery. You will still be able to feel your foot being moved but you will not feel any pain. The operation takes about 10 minutes however expect to be with us for 45 minutes.

There are two types of Local Anaesthetic available:

• Local anaesthetic – Local to the verrucas, lasts a few hours. Suitable for isolated lesions.
• Total nerve foot block – at the level of the ankle joint that gives full pain relief for at least 8 hours.

Please Note:

• Electrosurgery is not suitable for extensive mosaic verrucas.
• There is a possibility of scar formation.
• As a verruca is a virus there is always a small chance that the verrucas can recur.

Verruca Leaflet

edited 03/11/2021