Customized Dermal Curette: An Alternative and Effective Shaving Tool in Nail Surgery

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Surgical Pathology

Background:

• Longitudinal melanonychia (LM) management often involves surgical excision of the nail matrix.
• Standard scalpel use can be difficult for narrow pigmented matrix lesions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the efficacy of a customized dermal curette as an alternative tool for nail matrix excision in cases of longitudinal melanonychia.
• To address challenges associated with narrow pigmented lesions.

Main Methods:

• Surgical excision of the pigmented nail matrix.
• Utilized a customized dermal curette for lesion removal.
• Histopathologic examination of the excised tissue.

Main Results:

• The customized dermal curette proved to be an effective tool for excising narrow nail matrix lesions.
• Facilitated successful histopathologic examination.

Conclusions:

• A customized dermal curette is a viable and effective alternative for surgical management of longitudinal melanonychia, especially with narrow pigmented lesions.
• This technique improves the feasibility of obtaining adequate samples for diagnosis.