title: Chemical matricectomy with phenol for the treatment of ingrowing toenail: a review of the literature and follow-up of 172 treated patients.
abstract: There are many options for the treatment of ingrowing toenail, ranging from simple conservative approaches to extensive surgical procedures. Although conservative treatment modalities are helpful in patients with stage 1 disease, stage 2 and 3 ingrowing toenails are best treated surgically. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of chemical matricectomy with phenol for the treatment of ingrowing toenail. A total of 350 phenol ablations were performed on 172 patients with stage 2 and 3 disease. Each patient was reviewed weekly until full wound healing was achieved and afterwards, to assess the long-term efficacy of the treatment, they were followed up for a mean period of 25 months. The healing period after the operation ranged from 2 to 4 weeks and no postoperative complications were seen. Only two recurrences (0.57%) were observed, after 9 and 17 months, respectively, and nail spikes had developed in only two toes (0.57%). The success rate was found to be 98.8%. We conclude that phenol cauterization is an excellent surgical method for the treatment of ingrowing toenail because of its simplicity, low morbidity and high success rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Ankara University Medical Faculty, Ankara, Turkey. pelinekmekci@hotmail.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bostanci
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ekmekçi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gürgey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002425:Cautery; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009263:Nails, Ingrown / Q000601:surgery*; D019800:Phenol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011182:Postoperative Care; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D019800:Phenol