The Surgical Treatment of Ingrown Toenails

Two impressions are gained from this study of the operative treatment of ingrown toenails: first, that the rate of recurrence of ingrowth of the nail following operation is unduly high, and, second, that the rate of healing of many of the operative wounds is unduly prolonged. The rate of recurrence was 13.6 per cent in 110 operations. The operative wounds required, on the average, nineteen days to heal. This survey seems to be a fair index of current operative treatment of ingrown toenails, since it comprises 110 operations performed by twenty-six different surgeons in three affiliated institutions in St. Louis. My private cases also are included. Recurrences were attributed either to the performances of an operation inadequate in type or to failure at operation to remove the necessary amount of nail-bearing matrix 1 or of nail wall. No recurrence could be ascribed to growth of new nail from eponychium. Since