Treatment of Ingrown Toenail with a Minimally Invasive Nail Fixator: Comparative Study with Winograd Technique

Many surgical techniques have been reported for treatment of ingrown toenails. Occurrence of infection after matricectomy procedures could cause clinicians to prefer using external braces in the treatment of ingrown toenails. This study compares patients with ingrown toenails who underwent the nail fixation technique and the Winograd technique.

Patients who underwent ingrown toenail surgery were reviewed retrospectively. The patients' demographic characteristics (ie, age, gender, body mass index morphology according to Heifetz classification, surgical technique, visual analogue scale values, time to return to daily activities [days], complications, and satisfaction levels) were all recorded.

Seventy patients were included in the study. Of the patients, 33 underwent nail fixation and 37 underwent the Winograd technique. No significant statistical differences were found in terms of patients' age, gender, body mass index, preoperative clinical features, long-term satisfaction, and ingrown toenail recurrence rates between the two groups, but time to return to daily activities and visual analogue scale values were statistically significantly lower in patients treated using nail fixation compared with the Winograd technique.

Nail fixation can be an effective surgical treatment option for ingrown toenail.