A sheath for use with a scalpel cutting device including a sheath body configured to cover a scalpel blade at a distal end of a scalpel cutting device. The sheath advantageously may include a plurality of slots formed therein. Providing two or more slots provides additional functionality and/or ease of manufacturing. A single sheath configuration including a plurality of slots (e.g., two) may be manufactured so as to be used with scalpels including somewhat different blade configurations (e.g., which may require a slightly different slot location). Such a universal sheath allows a single sheath design to be used with multiple scalpels, easing manufacture and reducing costs. In addition, depending on the particular location of the slots and the configuration of the scalpel blade, the different slots may each intersect the scalpel blade and provide different characteristics for cutting a suture.
