Cryotherapy is a technique that uses extreme cold (liquid nitrogen) to freeze and destroy abnormal or diseased tissue. It works by damaging targeted cells and stimulating the body’s natural healing response, often with minimal recovery time because the procedure is minimally invasive.
In this video, you’ll see how cryotherapy is performed at Takurua Vets - from preparing and sedating the patient, through careful application of liquid nitrogen, to monitoring recovery after the procedure.
• How cryotherapy works using liquid nitrogen
• Preparing and sedating the patient
• The importance of PPE and safe handling
• Applying liquid nitrogen with a cotton tip
• The treated area immediately after application
• Repeating the process to achieve clean margins
• Monitoring sedation throughout the procedure
• Recovery after a successful treatment
00:09 What is cryotherapy?
00:14 How freezing cells stimulates healing
00:29 Patient sedation and surgical preparation
00:42 PPE and safe handling
00:49 Applying liquid nitrogen to the affected area
00:56 The treated area after application
01:02 How cold is cryotherapy?
01:08 Repeating the process to treat the full area
01:18 Apply, repeat
01:38 Topping up sedation during the procedure
01:47 Ensuring clean margins and full treatment
02:10 Recovery after a successful procedure
Cryotherapy uses extreme cold — liquid nitrogen — to freeze and destroy abnormal or diseased tissue.
This is achieved by freezing cells, causing damage and stimulating the body’s healing response. Because the procedure is minimally invasive, recovery time is often short.
Our patient is sedated and ready for surgery, closely monitored by the surgical nurse.
Appropriate PPE and correct handling are essential to keep our team safe.
Liquid nitrogen is applied directly to the affected area using a cotton tip. Here you can see the treated area immediately after application.
How cold is it? Cryotherapy temperatures are measured in both degrees Celsius and degrees Fahrenheit.
The application is repeated until the entire affected area has been treated — apply, repeat.
Our patient’s sedation is topped up as necessary to maintain an appropriate plane of anaesthesia.
Repeating the process is important to ensure appropriate margins are achieved and all affected tissue is treated.
After a successful procedure, our patient is recovering well. Thanks for watching.
Talk to us about skin lesions, abnormal tissue, or treatment options
If your pet has a skin lesion, abnormal area, or tissue change that may need assessment or treatment, our team can help you work out the next step.
Learn how cryotherapy can fit into the wider picture of cancer diagnosis, treatment planning, and quality-of-life decision-making.
Learn how surgery, chemotherapy, supportive care, cryotherapy, referral, and palliative treatment may each play a role depending on the case.
Read more about how cryotherapy may be used for sun-damaged ear tips and certain skin cancers in cats.
Learn what happens when your pet comes in for assessment and how we approach the visit.
Learn how calmer handling and thoughtful pain management support pets needing procedures or lesion treatment.
Use this guide when cryotherapy sits within a wider lump, mass, skin cancer or treatment decision.
