Eyelid Tumors and Cryosurgery

What are eyelid tumors?
Older dogs very commonly develop small, slowly growing masses on their eyelids. These masses most commonly arise from the eyelid meibomian glands (meibomian gland adenomas or adenocarcinomas) or melanocytes (melanomas), although other cell origins are possible.

Should eyelid tumors be treated? 
Untreated eyelid tumors are generally benign in that they are unlikely to spread to other places in your dog's body or injure the eye. However, eyelid tumors may become inflamed, producing pain like what people experience with a "stye." Additionally, larger masses rub on the eye, interfere with normal blinking, and can stimulate excessive tearing.

What should be done? 
Eyelid tumors may be safely excised following a mild intravenous sedation and local anesthetic injection in the eyelid. General anesthesia is not necessary in most cases. To prevent a recurrence of the eyelid tumor, the surgery site is frozen with a liquid nitrogen cryosurgery probe. 

What is cryosurgery? 
Cryosurgery is the local application of extreme cold in order to kill tissues. Normal eyelid structures are relatively resistant to injury by freezing; however, eyelid tumors are quite sensitive to freezing.

What should I expect after eyelid cryosurgery? 
You may notice a small amount of blood in the tears for 2-3 days, and the surgery site will be swollen for 5-7 days. Within 2 weeks the surgery site will turn pink due to the loss of melanocytes. You may notice whitening of the hairs surrounding the surgery site. In most cases, the skin will repigment within 4 months, but the hair whitening may be permanent.

Will the eyelid tumor come back?
Approximately 5-10% of eyelid tumors recur following within 6 months of treatment. If you notice a tumor on your dog's eyelid in the future, it may be a recurrence of the original tumor or it may be a completely new tumor. The treatment is the same: excision and cryosurgery.