Decompression and gutter splint techniques to prevent recurrence in ingrowing toenails

Abstract

Ingrowing toenails (IT) is puncture of periungual skin by its surrounding nail plate. IT most frequently occurs in males aged 10-30 years. Pathogenesis of IT is multifactorial. Patients most commonly present with toe pain and may also complain erythema, swelling, or discharge from the nail edge. The clinical presentation of IT has been divided into three stages; stage I or inflammatory stages, stage II or abcess formation, and stage III or granulation tissue formation. IT is a nail disease with high reccurences that commonly seen in daily practice. Several treatment approaches ranging from conservative therapy (gutter splint) to surgical treatment (decompression technique). We report a case of IT in a 13-year-old boy that treated with decompression and gutter splint technique. The combination of this technique provides good results for IT and there was no recurrences after two months of observation.