Azhar Ali Shah, Ghulam Hyder Rind, Abdul Latif Jokhio, Immamuddin Balouch, Khush Muhammad Sohu.
Effectiveness of ablative partial nail excision with phenolization in advanced stage onychocryptosis (ingrown toe nail).
Pak J Med Res Jan ;50(4):148-51.

Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of ablative partial nail excision with phenolization in advanced stage onychocryptosis (ingrown toe nail). Study type, settings and duration: An interventional study carried out at Department of Surgery, Ghulam Muhammad Mahar Medical College, Teaching Hospital, Sukkur from January 2009 to December 2009. Patients and Methods: Patients coming to the surgical department with advanced stage (stage-II & III) or recurrence of ingrown toe nail were included in the study. Patients with stage-I disease, diabetics, with trauma and vascular causes were excluded. All patients were operated as day cases with partial nail excision and chemical ablation with phenol. Results: A total of 56 patients underwent the procedure. There were 44(78.5%) males and 12(21.4%) females. Forty six patients were operated for the first time while 8(14.2%) patients were recurrent cases who were operated previously elsewhere. Post operatively and after chemical ablation, 41(73.2%) patients showed improvement with quite good pain relief and reduced swelling on third day, 15(26.7%) patients improved in two weeks. At 2 months 22(39.2%) patients were lost to follow up. Recurrence was observed only in 7(12.5%) patients after four and a half months. Delayed wound healing for upto three weeks was noticed in 3(5.3%) patients while moderate to severe pain requiring strong analgesics for one month was seen in 6(10.7%) patients. Majority of patients n=36 (64.2%) became symptoms free in 10 days. Conclusions: Partial nail excision with phenolization is a simple and effective procedure with low recurrence rates for patients with advanced ingrown toe nail.

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