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Surgical pearl: Modified Gillette Guard-1 blade for shaving surgery
*Corresponding author: Muhammed Mukhtar, Department of Dermatology, Mukhtar Skin Centre, KMCH Road, Katihar-854105, Katihar, Bihar, India. drmmukhtar20@gmail.com
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Received: ,
Accepted: ,
How to cite this article: Mukhtar M, Mukhtar N. Surgical pearl: Modified Gillette Guard-1 blade for shaving surgery. CosmoDerma 2023;3:13.
PROBLEM
Razor blades are one of the sharpest cutting tools used in shaving surgery.[1] However, because of its poor finger grip and high flexibility, it is difficult to handle, and there is a danger of finger injury. Various modifications and adaptations have been proposed to enhance finger grips.[2] However, these adaptations are costly and inconvenient to procure.
SOLUTION
The blade we used was a Gillette Guard-1®, which has a better finger grip but less flexibility. The blade costs between 0.1 and 0.2 US dollars. The device has a single blade and a safety comb as a guard. The comb is cut and removed with the help of scissors. Then, the lateral cutting edge is wrapped with leucoplast as per the size of the lesions [Figure 1]. The blade is held with the thumb and index finger during shaving surgery [Video 1]. This device is simple to obtain and very safe for shaving small benign exophytic lesions such as seborrheic keratosis, dermatosis papulosa nigra, and warts, as well as taking a thin Thiersch’s graft with little or no risk of finger injury with or without its handle.
Video 1:
Video 1:The modified blade is ready for shaving surgery.Declaration of patient consent
Patient’s consent not required as there are no patients in this study.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
Videos available online at
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
References
- The sharpness of blades used in dermatologic surgery. Dermatol Surg. 2016;42:105-7.
- [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shave biopsy instrument: An ergonomic modification of razor blade. J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2020;13:255-6.
- [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]