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Treatment of nail bed defects with hard palate mucosal grafts
Silvia Fernández-Mejía1, Judith Domínguez-Cherit, Patricia Pichardo-Velázquez
1Department of Dermatology, General Hospital Dr. Manuel Gea Gonzalez, Tlalpan, Mexico, DF.
Background:
Nail bed defects produce a nail plate dystrophy that is permanent and presents important cosmetic problems. To correct the defect, we used a hard palate mucosal graft. This is a procedure with encouraging outcomes for nail bed scars.
Objective:
To show our initial experience with the hard palate mucosal graft technique for correcting nail dystrophy or permanent onycholysis secondary to a nail bed scar.
Methods:
This was a prospective, longitudinal, descriptive, observational study. We included five patients with a traumatic nail bed scar and one patient with congenital dystrophy. Seven nails were treated using a hard palate mucosal graft.
Results:
All repaired nails had a good outcome, with excellent growth and improvement in nail dystrophy. The patients had surgical recovery in 2 weeks and tolerable pain.
Conclusions:
This is a relatively easy procedure for experienced surgeons to correct nail dystrophy secondary to a nail bed scar, with good to excellent results.
