Total nail ablation for onychodystrophy with optimized gauze-phenol application.

Background: Nail disorders are frequent among the geriatric population and unfortunately, repeat avulsion procedures often result in complications.

Objective: To utilize a phenol-based total matricectomy technique for permanent nail ablation and evaluate its effectiveness.

Methods: We performed total nail ablation on 34 toenails of the hallux (30 patients) with a gauze-phenol application technique and evaluated the degree of pain reported by the patient 12 months postoperatively compared with the preoperative stage. Furthermore, we evaluated the patients' satisfaction with the final cosmetic appearance as well as their satisfaction with the overall procedure.

Results: All patients reported 'too much' or 'severe' pain prior to surgery and 94.11% reported 'no pain' 12 months post-surgery. A vast majority of the patients (82.35%) felt pleased with the cosmetic results and all patients reported that they were 'very satisfied' or 'strongly satisfied' with the procedure when interviewed at their 12 month follow-up examination.

Limitations: There were a limited number of participants in this study across an extensive timeframe.

Conclusion: Phenol-based total nail ablation with specific gauze application is safe, inexpensive and has a high rate of patient satisfaction.