Surgical treatment of ingrown toenails in children: what is best practice?

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Surgery for ingrowing toenails carries a significant re-operation rate. We reviewed our departmental figures to assess the optimal management of these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We performed a 10-year retrospective review of all patients undergoing surgery for ingrown toenails (IGTN) in order to determine the operations most commonly used and the re-operation rate of each of these procedures. RESULTS A total of 880 procedures were performed on 414 patients. The median age at operation was 8.5 years. About half (48%) of children underwent two or more procedures with wedge excision and phenol application being the most common initial and repeat procedure. Recurrent surgery was most likely following plain avulsion or wedge avulsion without phenol application. Excision of the nailbed with phenol application had the lowest recurrence rate at 18.4%. CONCLUSIONS We recommend wedge resection with phenol application as first-line treatment with simple avulsion reserved for severely infected toes. Total nail bed excisions should be reserved for patients with significant on-going morbidity associated with IGTN. Families must be made aware of the likely outcome of IGTN surgery and the choice of operation must be tailored to the individual.