[Cryotherapy of skin diseases (preliminary report)]

The cryotherapy is a simple, elegant and reliable method that can often be applied in out-patients, without anesthesia. The initial apparent failures were mainly due to the fact that the time of application of the cold had been too short, or that the region in which it had been brought to bearing was too small. Clinical and histological examinations have confirmed the good cosmetic results of the method despite an extraordinary deep action. The method has only two minor disadvantages: histological controls cannot be performed, and the non-bloody artifical necrosis must be protected for 2-3 weeks by the local administration of antibiotics.