Use of a powered shaver to remove multiple oral cavity papillomas

Abstract

We report a previously undescribed method of removing multiple oral papillomas, which we performed on 5 men with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Patients were brought to the operating room and placed under general anesthesia. In addition, 1% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine was injected under and around the lesions. We then removed the lesions with a Tricut laryngeal blade attached to a handheld powered shaver. Postoperatively, patients were sent home on clindamycin, a pain medication, and Peridex. At the 1-week follow-up, patients reported only minimal pain, and their wounds were well healed. We observed no adverse events associated with the shaving procedure. Our method expedites the process of removing multiple oral cavity papillomas while reducing the morbidity generally associated with other procedures.