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It is very often necessary to resort to destructive measures in long-standing, localized, pruritic, lichenified, and hypertrophic dermatoses that have not responded to conventional therapy, including x-ray treatment.
For this purpose the most commonly used agents are phenol, trichloroacetic acid, solid carbon dioxide, and electrodesiccation.
It is my aim in submitting this paper not to compare methods or to recommend the best one, but simply to introduce a new way of applying the electrodesiccation current.
When desiccating tissue, the operator finds it difficult to cover much ground using the ordinary needle electrode. It has therefore occurred to me to use the ordinary straight-handled, metal, prostatic electrode. This is admirably suited for the purpose because of its blunt tip, anterior concavity, and posterior convexity. By manipulation the operator can obtain the desired concentration or diffusion of spark and will find the curvatures readily adaptable to all surfaces.