Surgical Pearl: The use of petroleum jelly in performing scalp surgery

Abstract

formed on areas of moderate hair density, the scissors do not need to be wiped clean of hair during the clipping procedure. However, if excisions of much larger hair-bearing areas are performed, then the scissors can be easily wiped clean with a 43 4 gauze, more petrolatum can be reapplied to the scissors, and the clipping can continue. Frequently, when a defect is being sutured, final planning of the closure occurs only after the wound has been fully undermined and allowed to align along relaxed skin tension lines. In such cases, the need may arise for intraoperative hair removal. By keeping sterile petrolatum and scissors on the surgical tray, this technique can be used intraoperatively in the same way that it is used when the surgical field is being prepared. In both cases, the main advantage to this procedure, in comparison to tape-assisted removal or using an alcohol swab, is that the loose hairs are most efficiently removed with our technique. Therefore both foreign body reactions to clipped hairs and wound infection from nonsterile hairs may be reduced or avoided. In summary, we present an efficient, cost-effective procedure for surgical hair removal, which maintains a tidy, clean surgical field and requires nothing more than the tools on a standard excision tray.