409 - MOHS Surgery

JANUARY 2018 | The Surgical Technologist | 21 uses ultrasonic pulses to make sure any bioburdens have been removed from the box locks of the instrumentation. Once the sonic has completed its cycle, the instrumentation will be placed into instrument milk to maintain the ease of movement when in use. The instruments then will be wrapped – blue wraps for surgical repair instruments and a large peel pack for Mohs procedure instruments. For Mohs procedures, not one patient or operation is the same. Each patient responds differently to the anesthetic, and each skin cancer presents differently and each closure differs. Mohs micrographic surgery has been growing in utilization since its inception in the 1940s due to its high cure rate with rare reoccurrence in the same area. Each year, more people are diagnosed with skin cancers. Patients will be advised to have a skin exam every six months following a diagnosis of basal or squamous cell carcinoma and every three months after they have been diagnosed with mela- noma. Since most skin cancers are caused by sun exposure, those who have had a skin cancer previously are more prone to having another in other parts of the body so follow-up care is critical to preventing the spread of the disease A U T H O R A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S I would like to thank both Dr Christie Regula and Dr Justin Vujevich for all of their help with formulating this article and all the knowledge they provide daily in the learning process. A B O U T T H E A U T H O R Ashley Adams has been a Certified Sur- gical Technologist for four years since obtaining her associates of science of surgical technology degree from Pitts- burgh Technical College. She spent the first part of her career on the kidney/ liver transplant, general surgery and general robotic sur- gery team at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital before moving into Mohs surgery at Vujevich Dermatology and Associates. R E F E R E N C E S 1. American Academy of Dermatology.What is Mohs surgery? March. 2017. Accessed October 2017. https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/skin-can- cer/what-is-mohs-surgery 2. American College of Mohs Surgery. The Mohs Procedure. August. 2015. Accessed October 2017. https://www.skincancermohssurgery.org/about- mohs-surgery/the-mohs-procedure 3. American Cancer Society. About Basal and Squamous Cell Skin Cancer. May 2016.Accessed October 2017. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/basal- and-squamous-cell-skin-cancer/about/what-is-basal-and-squamous-cell. html 4. American Cancer Society. Surgery for Melanoma Skin Cancer. May 2016. Accessed October 2017. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/melanoma-skin- cancer/treating/surgery.html 5. Goldman, G; Dzubow, L; Yelverton, C. Facial Flap Surgery.The McGraw- Hill Companies, Inc. (2013). C E E X A M Earn CE Credits at Home You will be awarded continuing educa- tion (CE) credits toward your recertifica- tion after reading the designated arti- cle and completing the test with a score of 70% or better. If you do not pass the test, it will be returned along with your payment. Send the original answer sheet from the journal and make a copy for your records. If possible use a credit card (debit or credit) for payment. It is a faster option for processing of credits and offers more flexibility for correct payment. When submitting multiple tests, you do not need to submit a separate check for each journal test. You may submit multiple journal tests with one check or money order. Members this test is also available online at www.ast.org . No stamps or checks and it posts to your record automatically! Members: $6 per credit (per credit not per test) Nonmembers: $10 per credit (per credit not per test plus the $400 nonmember fee per submission) After your credits are processed, AST will send you a letter acknowledging the number of credits that were accepted. Members can also check your CE credit status online with your login information at www.ast.org. 3 WAYS TO SUBMIT YOUR CE CREDITS Mail to: AST, Member Services, 6 West Dry Creek Circle Ste 200, Littleton, CO 80120-8031 Fax CE credits to: 303-694-9169 E-mail scanned CE credits in PDF format to: [email protected] For questions please contact Member Services - [email protected] or 800-637-7433, option 3. Business hours: Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., MT