Minor Surgical Procedures

What Minor Surgical Procedures Does Dr. Oldham Perform?

Dr. Oldham performs a range of minor surgical procedures at the Spanish Fork office that would otherwise require a referral to a surgeon or urgent care facility. The procedural scope includes laceration repair (suturing cuts from accidents, falls, or kitchen injuries), skin biopsies (shave, punch, and excisional biopsies for suspicious lesions), cyst excision (epidermal inclusion cysts, sebaceous cysts), abscess incision and drainage (I&D), mole and skin tag removal, toenail removal (partial or complete for ingrown toenails), foreign body removal (splinters, embedded glass), wart treatment (cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen), joint and soft-tissue injections (corticosteroid injections for bursitis, tendinopathy, and osteoarthritis), and wound care for complex lacerations or burns. Dr. Oldham’s four years of general surgery residency at Beaumont-Trenton Hospital provided training in operative technique, wound management, and anatomy that translates directly to office-based procedures.

Procedural supplies stay stocked in the exam rooms, so most minor procedures can be done during the same visit the patient presents. A patient who comes in with a laceration doesn’t need to be sent to urgent care or the emergency department for sutures; Dr. Oldham handles it in the office, usually within 30 minutes.

How Does Dr. Oldham’s Surgical Training Benefit Patients?

Dr. Oldham spent four years in a general surgery internship and residency before completing a family medicine residency, a training path that is uncommon among primary care physicians. That surgical background means Dr. Oldham has performed thousands of suture closures, biopsies, and wound explorations during residency, building muscle memory and clinical judgment that makes office-based procedures faster, more precise, and more comfortable for the patient. It also means Dr. Oldham can assess whether a wound, mass, or skin lesion can be safely managed in the office or needs referral to a specialist, avoiding both unnecessary referrals and undertreatment of findings that need surgical attention.

According to the AAFP, family physicians who perform office-based procedures reduce downstream costs and improve patient satisfaction by eliminating the delay, additional copay, and coordination burden of specialist referrals for straightforward problems. Dr. Oldham’s surgical training makes the Spanish Fork office a one-stop resource for both medical and procedural primary care.

What Happens During a Laceration Repair With Dr. Oldham?

Dr. Oldham repairs lacerations in the office using local anesthesia (lidocaine injection), wound irrigation, exploration for foreign bodies or tendon involvement, and layered closure with sutures or surgical staples depending on the wound location, depth, and tension. Simple lacerations on the face, scalp, arms, or legs take 15 to 30 minutes from anesthesia to final dressing. Dr. Oldham selects suture material based on location: absorbable sutures for deeper layers and areas where suture removal would be difficult (children’s faces, mucosal surfaces), and non-absorbable sutures (nylon or polypropylene) for skin closure on extremities and the scalp. After closure, Dr. Oldham provides wound care instructions, prescribes antibiotics only when the wound is contaminated or the patient is immunocompromised, and schedules suture removal in 5 to 14 days depending on location.

Dr. Oldham evaluates every laceration for red flags: tendon injury (test flexion and extension distal to the wound), nerve damage (test two-point discrimination), arterial bleeding requiring ligation, and wound contamination requiring operative washout. Lacerations that involve tendons, nerves, or open fractures are stabilized in the office and referred to hand surgery or orthopedics the same day.

How Does Dr. Oldham Handle Skin Biopsies and Mole Removal?

Dr. Oldham performs three types of skin biopsies in the office: shave biopsy (for raised lesions suspected to be benign), punch biopsy (a 3-6mm circular core for suspected melanoma, basal cell, or squamous cell carcinoma), and excisional biopsy (full removal of the lesion with margins for definitive diagnosis and treatment). Each biopsy is sent to a dermatopathology lab, and results return within 5 to 10 business days. Dr. Oldham reviews the pathology report with the patient by phone and schedules follow-up if the diagnosis requires wider excision or referral to dermatology. Moles and skin tags that are cosmetically bothersome or catch on clothing are removed during a brief office visit using shave excision, snip excision, or electrocautery, all under local anesthesia.

Dr. Oldham performs a focused skin check during annual physicals, flagging lesions that meet the ABCDEs of melanoma (asymmetry, border irregularity, color variation, diameter over 6mm, evolution). Early biopsy of suspicious lesions catches skin cancer at stages where in-office excision is curative, avoiding the need for Mohs surgery or wider procedures.

Does Dr. Oldham Treat Ingrown Toenails?

Dr. Oldham performs partial and complete toenail removal for ingrown toenails in the office under digital nerve block (local anesthesia injected at the base of the toe). The procedure takes 15 to 20 minutes: after the toe is numb, Dr. Oldham removes the offending nail border, applies phenol to the nail matrix to prevent regrowth of the ingrown edge (chemical matrixectomy), and dresses the toe. Most patients walk out of the office comfortably and return to normal shoes within one to two weeks. Partial nail avulsion with phenol matrixectomy has a recurrence rate of less than 5%, making it a definitive treatment for chronic ingrown nails that have failed conservative care (soaking, proper trimming, cotton wedge). Dr. Oldham also treats acute paronychia (infected nail fold) with I&D and antibiotics when needed.

What Should You Know Before a Minor Procedure With Dr. Oldham?

Every procedure begins with a clear explanation: what will be done, how long it takes, what the anesthesia will feel like, and what the recovery looks like. For planned procedures (scheduled biopsies, cyst removals, toenail procedures), the front desk reserves a procedure slot of 30 to 45 minutes. Patients should tell Dr. Oldham about blood thinner use (warfarin, apixaban, clopidogrel, aspirin), because some procedures require holding or bridging anticoagulation. Local anesthesia (lidocaine) is used for all procedures; general anesthesia is never needed for office-based minor surgery. After the procedure, Dr. Oldham provides written wound care instructions and schedules a follow-up for suture removal or wound check as appropriate.

Dr. Jedidiah Oldham, DO approaches every procedure with the same sterile technique and methodical tissue handling he learned during four years of surgical residency. Patients consistently report that office-based procedures at the Spanish Fork practice are faster, less stressful, and less expensive than the same procedure at an urgent care or emergency department.

Does Insurance Cover Minor Surgical Procedures?

Minor surgical procedures performed in Dr. Oldham’s office are billed under standard CPT procedure codes and covered by the 30+ insurance plans accepted at the Spanish Fork office. Laceration repair, skin biopsies, I&D, and toenail procedures are classified as medically necessary and covered with standard copay or coinsurance. Cosmetic procedures (removal of benign moles or skin tags for appearance only) may not be covered; Dr. Oldham’s front desk checks coverage before scheduling elective cosmetic removals. Office-based procedures cost significantly less than the same procedure at an emergency department or ambulatory surgery center, even before insurance is applied.

How Do I Schedule a Procedure With Dr. Oldham?

Frequently Asked Questions About Minor Surgical Procedures