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.