A Simple Alternative Treatment for Syndactyly of the Toe.
Toe syndactyly is a common congenital malformation affecting approximately 1 in 2000 people and can cause significant emotional and psychological distress for the patient. We report a case of a 41-year-old female who was concerned about the aesthetic appearance of her bilateral second and third toe with incomplete, simple syndactyly and had requested surgical correction. A number of operative techniques have been described in the orthopedic and plastic surgery data, with no one technique proving superior. We used medical tattooing to create the appearance of a complete interdigital cleft. This low-risk, and low-cost procedure resulted in a satisfactory outcome for the patient. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case using this technique, which we propose as a simple alternative to surgical correction of toe syndactyly.
Registrar, Orthopaedic Department, Guy's Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
William J
WJ
Nash
Foot and Ankle Fellow, Orthopaedic Department, Guy's Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
Roland
R
Walker
House Officer, Orthopaedic Department, Guy's Hospital, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: rsrpatel@doctors.org.uk.
Rajiv S
RS
Patel
Consultant Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Surgeon and Supervisor, Orthopaedic Department, Guy's Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
Sam
S
Singh
D000328:Adult; D003357:Cosmetic Techniques; D017046:Cost Savings; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D005532:Foot Deformities, Congenital / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D013576:Syndactyly / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D013653:Tattooing / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D014034:Toes / Q000002:abnormalities; D016896:Treatment Outcome
congenital malformation; digit; skin; tattoo; web