Ingrown toenail removal. (1/34)

Ingrown toenail is a common problem resulting from various etiologies including improperly trimmed nails, hyperhidrosis, and poorly fitting shoes. Patients commonly present with pain in the affected nail but with progression, drainage, infection, and difficulty walking occur. Excision of the lateral nail plate combined with lateral matricectomy is thought to provide the best chance for eradication. The lateral aspect of the nail plate is removed with preservation of the remaining healthy nail plate. Electrocautery ablation is then used to destroy the exposed nail-forming matrix, creating a new lateral nail fold. Complications of the procedure include regrowth of a nail spicule secondary to incomplete matricectomy and postoperative nail bed infection. When performed correctly, the procedure produces the greatest success in the treatment of ingrown nails. Basic soft tissue surgery and electrosurgery experience are prerequisites for learning the technique.  (+info)

Ingrown toenail relief drug products for over-the-counter human use. Final rule. (2/34)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing a final rule establishing conditions under which over-the-counter (OTC) ingrown toenail relief drug products containing sodium sulfide 1 percent in a gel vehicle are generally recognized as safe and effective and not misbranded. This rule also amends the regulation that lists nonmonograph active ingredients in OTC drug products for ingrown toenail relief by removing sodium sulfide from that list. This final rule is part of FDA's ongoing review of OTC drug products.  (+info)

"Ingrown" nails and other toenail problems--surgical treatment. (3/34)

Appropriate office treatment for "ingrown" or deformed toenails can bring quick and lasting relief. The principle is the removal of the portion of the nail that irritates. For mild problems, a buried nail corner or spur may be successfully trimmed away without anesthesia. More extensive infection requires a nerve block anesthetic of the toe and removal of a wide triangle of deformity with nail edge and the mass of heaped up granulations. Chronic or recurrent infection is often associated with some abnormality of the nail. It usually saves time and suffering in the long run to remove a third or so of the width of the nail together with its matrix or "root." Sharp dissection is relatively easy and far more dependable than other methods of removal or destruction of the matrix. The matrix of the entire nail can be removed just as easily to eliminate such problems as the grossly thickened nail of onychogryphosis.  (+info)

The occasional removal of an ingrowing toenail. (4/34)

The ingrowing toenail is a painful foot condition that can be treated by most rural physicians. If it is not too severe, conservative management can be initiated first. If the situation is not improving or is worsening, removal of the nail plate with destruction of the nail matrix, by either surgical or chemical matricectomy, is indicated. Neither matricectomy technique is particularly complicated. Quick healing, minimal postoperative morbidity, high success rates and cosmetically acceptable results are the rule. Risks associated with the procedure include infection, chronic ulcer formation, pain, prolonged healing, irregular nail regrowth and recurrence. Patients should be aware of these risks before the matricectomy is performed.  (+info)

Major complications of minor surgery: a report of two cases of critical ischaemia unmasked by treatment for ingrown nails. (5/34)

We describe two patients in whom poor healing after chemical ablation for ingrown toenails unmasked significant vascular disease of the lower extremities. We have found no similar reports in the English language literature.  (+info)

A prospective randomised comparison of minor surgery in primary and secondary care. The MiSTIC trial. (6/34)

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is equivalence in the competence of GPs and hospital doctors to perform a range of elective minor surgical procedures, in terms of the safety, quality and cost of care. DESIGN: A prospective randomised controlled equivalence trial was undertaken in consenting patients presenting at general practices and needing minor surgery. SETTING: The study was conducted in the south of England. PARTICIPANTS: Consenting patients presenting at general practices who needed minor surgery in specified categories for whom the recruiting doctor felt able to offer treatment or to be able to refer to a colleague in primary care. INTERVENTIONS: On presentation to their GP, patients were randomised to either treatment within primary care or treatment at their local hospital. Evaluation was by assessment of clinical quality and safety of outcome, supplemented by examination of patient satisfaction and cost-effectiveness. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Two independent observers assessed surgical quality by blinded assessment of wound appearance, between 6 and 8 weeks postsurgery, from photographs of wounds. Other measures included satisfaction with care, safety of surgery in terms of recognition of and appropriate treatment of skin malignancies, and resource use and implications. RESULTS: The 568 patients recruited (284 primary care, 284 hospital) were randomised by 82 GPs. In total, 637 skin procedures plus 17 ingrowing toenail procedures were performed (313 primary care, 341 hospital) by 65 GPs and 60 hospital doctors. Surgical quality was assessed for 273 (87%) primary care and 316 (93%) hospital lesions. Mean visual analogue scale score in hospital was significantly higher than that in primary care [mean difference=5.46 on 100-point scale; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.925 to 9.99], but the clinical importance of the difference was uncertain. Hospital doctors were better at achieving complete excision of malignancies, with a difference that approached statistical significance [7/16 GP (44%) versus 15/20 hospital (75%), chi(2)=3.65, p=0.056]. The proportion of patients with post-operative complications was similar in both groups. The mean cost for hospital-based minor surgery was 1222.24 pounds and for primary care 449.74 pounds. Using postoperative complications as an outcome, both effectiveness and costs of the alternative interventions are uncertain. Using completeness of excision of malignancy as an outcome, hospital minor surgery becomes more cost-effective. The 705 skin procedures undertaken in this trial generated 491 lesions with a traceable histology report: 36 lesions (7%) from 33 individuals were malignant or premalignant. Chance-corrected agreement (kappa) between GP diagnosis of malignancy and histology was 0.45 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.54) for lesions and 0.41 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.51) for individuals affected by malignancy. Sensitivity of GPs for detection of malignant lesions was 66.7% (95% CI 50.3 to 79.8) for lesions and 63.6% (95% CI 46.7 to 77.8) for individuals affected by malignancy. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of minor surgery carried out in general practice is not as high as that carried out in hospital, using surgical quality as the primary outcome, although the difference is not large. Patients are more satisfied if their procedure is performed in primary care, largely because of convenience. However, there are clear deficiencies in GPs' ability to recognise malignant lesions, and there may be differences in completeness of excision when compared with hospital doctors. The safety of patients is of paramount importance and this study does not demonstrate that minor surgery carried out in primary care is safe as it is currently practised. There are several alternative models of minor surgery provision worthy of consideration, including ones based in primary care that require all excised tissue to be sent for histological examination, or that require further training of GPs to undertake the necessary work. The results of this study suggest that a hospital-based service is more cost-effective. It must be concluded that it is unsafe to leave minor surgery in the hands of doctors who have never been trained to do it. Further work is required to determine GPs' management of a range of skin conditions (including potentially life-threatening malignancies), rather than just their recognition of them. Further economic modelling work is required to look at the potential costs of training sufficient numbers of GPs and GPs with special interests to meet the demand for minor surgery safely in primary care, and of the alternative of transferring minor surgery large-scale to the hospital sector. Different models of provision need thorough testing before widespread introduction.  (+info)

Malignant porocarcinoma of the nail fold: a tricky diagnosis. (7/34)

Malignant eccrine porocarcinoma is a rare tumor of sweat glands with a high local recurrence rate and a tendency to metastatic spread. We present a case of a 77-year-old male patient that presented with a recurrent, periungual porocarcinoma mimicking onychomycosis and ingrown toe nail that was successfully treated by surgical excision. To our knowledge no such case has been described in this location in the English literature.  (+info)

Management of the ingrown toenail. (8/34)

Ingrown toenail, or onychocryptosis, most commonly affects the great toenail. Many anatomic and behavioral factors are thought to contribute to ingrown toenails, such as improper trimming, repetitive or inadvertent trauma, genetic predisposition, hyperhidrosis, and poor foot hygiene. Conservative treatment approaches include soaking the foot in warm, soapy water; placing cotton wisps or dental floss under the ingrown nail edge; and gutter splinting with or without the placement of an acrylic nail. Surgical approaches include partial nail avulsion or complete nail excision with or without phenolization. Electrocautery, radiofrequency, and carbon dioxide laser ablation of the nail matrix are also options. Oral antibiotics before or after phenolization do not improve outcomes. Partial nail avulsion followed by either phenolization or direct surgical excision of the nail matrix are equally effective in the treatment of ingrown toenails. Compared with surgical excision of the nail without phenolization, partial nail avulsion combined with phenolization is more effective at preventing symptomatic recurrence of ingrowing toenails, but has a slightly increased risk of postoperative infection.  (+info)