Contemporary methods of treating venous lake lesions on the oral mucosa: A literature review

A venous lake (VL) is a vascular lesion arising from dilated venous vessels surrounded by thick fibrous tissue, located in the upper layers of the dermis. It can also appear in the oral cavity, especially on the lips, buccal mucosa and tongue. Recurrent bleeding or aesthetic complaints are the most common reasons for the treatment of these lesions. This review aims to present the current state of knowledge regarding the treatment of VL lesions in the oral cavity. PRISMA guidelines were followed. Articles were searched in the following databases: Pubmed, Medline and Scopus. The authors of this study analyzed scientific works concerning "laser photocoagulation", "infrared coagulation", and "diathermocoagulation". Two articles described electrocoagulation, 10 articles focused on photocoagulation using laser devices, 2 articles studied photocoagulation with infrared, and 4 articles described sclerotherapy for the treatment of VL lesions. The most effective therapeutic options were electrocoagulation, 808 nm diode laser photocoagulation and 1064 nm Nd:YAG.