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Abstract
Background: Ingrown toenails (onychocryptosis) are a prevalent painful nail disorder requiring effective surgical or chemical interventions. While surgical curettage/matricectomy is commonly performed, chemical phenolization has emerged as an alternative approach aimed at reducing recurrence and postoperative morbidity.
Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy, wound healing time, postoperative pain, and 3-month recurrence rates of surgical curettage versus chemical phenolization in patients with ingrown toenails
Methodology: In this prospective randomized controlled trial a total of 72 eligible patients presenting with ingrown toenails were included. Patients were randomized into two equal treatment arms: surgical curettage versus chemical phenolization. Primary outcomes evaluated included complete epithelialization time (days), postoperative pain measured via visual analog scale (VAS), and 3-month recurrence rates. Stratified subgroup evaluations were performed across age, gender, and body mass index (BMI).
Results: Chemical phenolization demonstrated statistically significant superiority across all measured endpoints. Complete wound epithelialization was achieved significantly faster in the phenolization group (15.42 ±2.14 days) compared to the curettage group (22.86±3.93 days, p < 0.001). Patients receiving phenolization also reported substantially lower postoperative VAS pain scores (2.16 ±0.51) than those treated with curettage (3.74 ±0.86, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the 3-month recurrence rate was markedly lower in the phenolization arm (2.8%) compared to conventional curettage (27.8%, p = 0.003), with consistent therapeutic efficacy sustained across demographic and BMI strata.
Conclusions: Chemical phenolization significantly accelerates healing, reduces postoperative discomfort, and minimizes recurrence compared to surgical curettage. Consequently, phenolization represents a highly effective, superior therapeutic modality for the management of ingrown toenails.