ABSTRACT
Aim: There are few complications associated with harvesting of full thickness coastal
cartilage grafts i.e., pneumothorax (0.9%), contour deformities and prolonged post-operative
pain. To address these issues, authors devised special scalpel to harvest split-thickness
costal cartilage grafts. Materials and Methods: Standard inframammary incision was used for harvesting rib. Incision was made directly
over the desired rib. Specially designed scalpel was used to cut through the rib cartilage
to the half of the thickness. The study was conducted in two parts – cadaveric and
clinical. Results: There was significantly less pain and no pneumothorax in the patients in whom the
split thickness graft was harvested. Wounds healed without any complication. Discussion: Thus, newly devised angulated scalpel used in the current study, showed the potential
to supply the reconstructive surgeon with split thickness rib graft without risk of
complications such as pneumothorax or warping contour deformities and post-operative
pain.
KEY WORDS
Graft - pneumothorax - rib - scalpel - split
