Cryosurgery is a surgical process used to destroy tissue using extremely cold temperatures. It is most frequently used to remove or destroy small growths on the skin of animals.
Dr. Edwin Mulder ten Kate also uses cryosurgery to perform surgery on ferrets with Adrenal Tumors.
“Louise” Nash
“Louise” Nash
Below you can see the Cryogun used to perform this type of surgery. The most common application Dr. Edwin Mulder ten Kate uses the cryogun for is to obliterate the right adrenal gland when it has become (pre)cancerous. If the left adrenal gland is ‘diseased’ it can usually be surgically cut out, but the right gland is so close to the biggest vein in the body (vena cava) that surgically dissecting the gland to remove it is very risky. The Cryosurgery affords the doctor an effective and less risky alternative.
The unit is filled with liquid nitrogen and this is used to freeze-thaw the disease adrenal gland three of four times (3-4 cycles) which like a case of extreme frost bite destroys the (pre)cancerous tissue.