Resin splint as a new conservative treatment for ingrown toenails

Several conservative as well as surgical methods are used for the treatment of
ingrown toenails until date. The conservative methods are either based on nail splinting
or on orthonyxia, but no methods employing both principles have been reported thus far.
Moreover, surgical methods usually involve postoperative pain, prolonged wound healing
and restricted activities of daily living. Therefore, considering the need of a simplified,
non-invasive method, in this study, we applied a novel splint to treat patients with
ingrown toenails and estimated the clinical efficacy as well as rate of recurrence following
treatment. The splint is a plate made of resin that is attached to the lateral edge of
the nail using a bandage. We studied 61 patients (19 men and 42 women ;mean age 36
years), with an average application duration of 9.3 months and an average follow-up period
of 10 months in all patients. All patients experienced pain relief within a week of
splint application and a decrease in the degree of nail deformity. Moreover, follow-up
revealed a recurrence rate of 8.2%. Therefore, we believe that this new device is an excellent
conservative treatment method for patients with ingrown toenails.

The journal of medical investigation : http://medical.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp/jmi/index.html