Cryotherapy for treatment of anogenital warts

Human papillomavirus is a group of viruses that produce anogenital warts for which there is no cure. Untreated anogenital warts can spread and form large clusters that are bothersome, painful, and embarrassing to the patient as well as being a significant health risk. One of the infectious disease clinics of the authors' hospital sees an average of 200 HIV-positive individuals per month. Approximately 10% of these patients have anogenital warts. The attending physicians asked the clinical nursing staff if they would be willing to be trained to remove these warts using cryotherapy techniques, if patient efforts at other remedies failed. This request provoked a decision-making challenge for the staff. This article will describe the decision-making process and conclude with the procedure that was created as a result of the decision making.