One of the most painful and incapacitating conditions encountered in the field of minor surgery, which can be relieved with gratifying results by proper surgical treatment, is the ingrown toe-nail. I have had an opportunity to operate in a large number of such cases within the past year, chiefly in dispensary work, and to observe the patients during recovery. In the course of this work a modification from the usual operation was suggested, tried out in a series of cases, and found to be an improvement over the technic previously used.
On reviewing the literature, one finds that surprisingly little work has been reported on ingrown toe-nails. Various palliative measures are suggested for the relief of pain, such as trimming the nail with insertion of a piece of cotton under the margin. Mickel1 introduces a piece of gauze soaked in celluloid solution under the ingrowing part of the nail and