Surgical pearl: Disposable syringe as a molluscum body extractor

Muhammed Mukhtar; Sofia Mukhtar

doi:10.25259/CSDM_41_2023

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Innovations

2023

:3;

38

doi:

10.25259/CSDM_41_2023

Surgical pearl: Disposable syringe as a molluscum body extractor

Muhammed Mukhtar¹, Sofia Mukhtar¹

1Department of Dermatology, Mukhtar Skin Centre, Katihar, Bihar, India

*Corresponding author: Muhammed Mukhtar, Department of Dermatology, Mukhtar Skin Centre, Katihar Medical College Road, Katihar , Bihar, India. drmmukhtar20@gmail.com

Received: 2023-02-10, Accepted: 2023-02-15, Published: 2023-02-25

Licence

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, transform, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

How to cite this article: Mukhtar M, Mukhtar S. Surgical pearl: Disposable syringe as a molluscum body extractor. CosmoDerma 2023;3:38.

PROBLEM

Molluscum contagiosum (MC) is a viral infection having pearly body inside its lesion is called molluscum body. The ideal treatment for the lesion is extraction of the MC body. There are a number of procured metallic and atraumatic forceps, needle has been used for the extraction of MC body.^[1-3] However, its procurement is a little bit cumbersome and painful, and we have observed some uneasiness with the forceps when extracting smaller lesions from tensed skin on the face.

SOLUTION

We used a disposable syringe for extracting the MC body. Before extraction, the lesion was treated for 1–2 weeks with retinoic acid (0.05–0.1%) or with salicylic acid (12%) as keratolytic agents to open or thin out the roof of the non-umbilicated lesion. In case of emergency, the lesions should be pricked out with 18G needle before extraction of the MC body. After this, the MC body is punched with gentle pressure and dragged out with the needle hub (1.5–2.0 mm in diameter) of the syringe for extracting the body [Video 1]. Post-extraction, the site is touched with saturated hypertonic saline for better hemostasis [Figure 1a and b]. The MC body gets collected in the syringe barrel [Figure 2]. Thus, a disposable syringe is a simple, aseptic, and cost-effective device for MC body extraction. However, for larger or giant MC bodies, the needle cap and barrel of the syringe (2–3 mL) can be a better option.

(a and b) Multiple molluscum bodies are extracted with disposable syringe.

The molluscum body is collected in the syringe barrel.

Video 1:

Video 1:The molluscum body is being extracted with a syringe.

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Declaration of patient consent

Patient’s consent not required as patients identity is not disclosed or compromised.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

Videos available online at

https://doi.org/10.25259/CSDM_41_2023

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

References

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