Plantar wart surgery

Overview
No treatment in common use is 100% effective. The most comprehensive medical review found that no treatment method was more than 73% effective and using a placebo had a 27% average success rate.

Surgical Therapy
The American Family Physician recommends:


 * Liquid nitrogen : Cryosurgery with liquid nitrogen. A common treatment that works by producing a blister under the wart. It is painful but usually nonscarring.
 * Electrodesiccation and surgical excision produce scarring. If the wart recurs, the patient has a permanent scar along with the wart.
 * Lasers may be effective, especially the 585nm pulsed dye laser which the most effective treatment of all, and does not leave scars, but is generally a last resort treatment as it is expensive and painful, and multiple laser treatments are required (generally 4-6 treatments repeated once a month until the wart disappears).

Other

 * X-ray is an old method that is seldom recommended due to the long term adverse side effects of irradiation.
 * Duct tape occlusion therapy: The wart is kept covered with duct tape for six days, then soaked and debrided with a pumice stone. The process is repeated for 6 to 8 weeks..
 * Watchful waiting may be appropriate since many warts will eventually resolve due to the patient's own immune system. In many cases, the body will become naturally immune to the wart and verrucæ will turn black and effectively fall off, although it can be two years before this takes place.