ABSTRACT
Cryotherapy refers to the destruction of tissue by controlled freezing. It was first employed in the 19th century, when advanced malignancies of the breast and cervix were treated with the application of ice-cold saline solution.1 More recently, it has been applied topically for the treatment of skin cancers using liquid nitrogen and also percutaneously or at open surgery to treat liver and uterine tumors using specially designed cryoprobes. In urological practice, cryotherapy was first used almost 40 years ago to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia;2 in the 1970s cryotherapy was initially employed in the treatment of prostate cancer, both as primary therapy and for post-radiation recurrent disease.3 In the last decade the treatment of small renal tumors has become an evolving indication for cryotherapy.
