Harvesting split thickness skin in areas of scarcity.

Background: In the third world countries like Ethiopia the majority of Hospitals have difficulties in harvesting split thickness skin for graft because the proper Humby knife may not be available and where available may be too old and out of use. In order to circumvent such a problem the author had to use the easily available and cheap instrument, the razorblade. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome split thickness skin graft harvested using sterile razor blade in an areas of scarcity.
Methods: A retrograde study of 108 patients who had split thickness skin graft done using a razorblade as harvester from August 1999 to March 2005 at Menilik ii Hospital. Fifty-one (47%) of patients were male and 57 (53%) were female giving a Male: Female ratio of 1:1.12. The ages ranged from 9 to 80 years with a mean age of 30.82 years. All patients had split thickness skin graft done by using a razorblade as harvester
Results: The harvests were adequate in quantity and quality to cover the desired areas to be covered. The grafts were well taken by the recipient areas and technically there was no danger of deep bite.
Conclusion: Split thickness skin can be harvested using sterile razorblade in areas of scarcity.