A prospective study of 134 consecutive patients requiring diagnosis, excision and repair of a facial cutaneous lesion.

A prospective study of 134 patients undergoing excision of a facial lesion was undertaken. Considerable clinical diagnostic difficulty was experienced, with 21% of clinical diagnoses being incorrect. A tendency towards a clinical over-diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma was noted and whilst this is not unreasonable, a number of benign lesions inevitably were diagnosed as malignant with unnecessary sacrifice of tissue. Incisional biopsy of lesions should be considered when sited close to important anatomical structures to enable accurate diagnosis prior to definitive surgery. Although a few definite indications for a particular reconstructive technique exist (Table 1), a choice is more often available. Repair of the excisional defect with a local flap as opposed to a skin graft resulted in a reduced length of hospital admission with fewer postoperative complications and better final cosmesis. As a consequence, a local flap is recommended as the method of repair where direct closure is not feasible.