Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Aseptic non-touch technique (ANTT)
- A way of working that keeps the parts of equipment which will touch the wound completely untouched, so germs are not carried in.
- Cautery
- Using heat to seal small blood vessels or destroy remaining tissue at the base of a lesion.
- Curette
- A small spoon-shaped instrument used to scrape a lesion away from the skin surface.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to tell a patient promptly when something has gone wrong with their care, apologise, and explain what will be done about it.
- Haemostasis
- Stopping the bleeding.
- Histology (histopathology)
- Examination of removed tissue under a microscope by a pathologist to say what it is.
- Incomplete excision
- The microscope shows the lesion reaching the edge of what was removed, so some may still be in the skin.
- Local anaesthetic
- An injection that numbs a small area of skin so a procedure can be done while the patient is awake.
- Margin
- The border of normal-looking skin taken out around a lesion.
- Melanoma
- A serious form of skin cancer that can spread, usually arising in a mole or pigmented patch.
- Montgomery standard
- A Supreme Court decision meaning patients must be told about the risks that matter to them personally, not just those doctors think are important.
- Regulation 12
- The part of the CQC regulations requiring care and treatment to be provided safely.
- Relaxed skin tension lines
- The natural creases of the skin; cutting along them usually gives a neater scar.
- Specimen
- The piece of tissue removed and sent away to be examined.
- Wrong-site procedure
- Operating on the wrong place on the body, or on the wrong lesion.