Surgical approach to retronychia refractory to clinical treatments

Abstract

Retronychia is an inflammatory onychopathy characterized by the disordered growth and stacking of nail plates, associated with an imbalance in the matrix production of plaques, which tend to overlap. This condition may be associated with trauma, evolving with an inflammatory reaction along the proximal nail fold and granulation tissue formation. We report the case of a patient with retronychia in the left hallux, submitted to surgical treatment after failure of therapeutic responses with previous clinical treatments. The surgical approach led to the avulsion of the overlapping nail plates and the excision of voluminous granulation tissues, achieving adequate postoperative evolution.

Keywords

• nail diseases
• nails
• nails ingrown