Ingrowing toenail

Approach

  • Expose both feet for comparison
  1. Inspect

    • Commonly affests lateral aspect of great toneail
    • Lateral aspect of nail seen to be diggin into the substance of the toe
    • Look for signs of inflammation
    • Evidence of serous of purulent discharge

Treatments

  1. Non-surgical
    • Nail care with chiropodist
  2. Surgical
    • Simple nail avulsion
    • Wedge excision: excision of involvedaspect of nail and nail bed with a wedge of the nail fold
    • Zadek's procedure: total excision of nailbed including germinal matrix

Complications of surgery

  1. Wound infection
  2. Regrowth
  3. Osteomyelitis and septic arthritis