Electrodesiccation and curettage (EDC, ED & C, or ED+C) is a medical procedure commonly performed by dermatologists, surgeons and general practitioners for the treatment of basal cell cancers and squamous cell cancers of the skin.[1] It provides desiccation, coagulation/cauterization, and curettage to remove lesions from the skin.
The procedure
A round dull instrument (curette) of varying sizes (1 mm to 6 mm) is used to scrape off the cancer down to the dermis.[2][3][4] The scraping is then paused while an electrosurgical device like a hyfrecator is used next. Electrocoagulation (electrodesiccation) is performed over the raw surgical ulcer to denature a layer of the dermis and the curette is used again over the surgical ulcer to remove denatured dermis down to living tissue. In the case of skin cancers, the cautery and electrodesiccation is usually performed three times, or until the surgeon is confident that reasonable margins have been achieved.[5]