Genital Warts (Human Papillomavirus)
Surgery
You may have surgery to remove genital warts if they are widespread and medicine or freezing (cryotherapy) fails to remove them.
Surgery Choices
Surgical methods that may be used include:
- Cryotherapy (cryosurgery).
- Electrocautery.
- Surgical excision.
- Laser surgery.
- Loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP).
Surgical treatment for pregnant women
Surgical choices for pregnant women with genital warts include electrocautery, surgical excision, loop electrosurgical excision (LEEP), and laser surgery.
What To Think About
The success of surgery is related to the number of warts present. The success rate is higher and additional treatments are less likely to be required when surgery is performed on fewer and smaller warts. However, surgery is less likely to be needed for a few small areas of warts.
Surgery may be more expensive than some other treatment choices.
 Go to previous section |  Go to top of page |  Go to next section |
| Author: | Robin Parks, MS | Last Updated: August 17, 2006 |
| Medical Review: | Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH - Infectious Disease | |
 | ||
