ABSTRACT
Hand-held thermocautery units have been used in medicine for many years. They are mainly used in minor emergency conditions such as to drill a hole in the nail plate to relieve subungual pressure due to a hematoma or to cauterize small bleeding blood vessels. Thermocautery units can also be used to partially remove the nail plate to gain access to pathological growths in the underlying nail bed tissue (1). After the nail plate is sliced, it is freed from the underlying nail bed and matrix and removed. Here we present a simple method of slicing the keratin plate using the convenient, batterypowered thermocautery unit. These units are safe, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive.
