Fingertip Injuries Follow-up

  • Author: Glen Vaughn, MD; Chief Editor: Rick Kulkarni, MD   more...
 
Updated: Oct 20, 2011
 

Further Inpatient Care

Keep hand elevated.

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Further Outpatient Care

Keep hand elevated.

Check wound 2 days after ED treatment.

Analgesics may be necessary for first few days.

Splint fractures in extension for 2 weeks.

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Complications

Untreated nailbed lacerations may lead to subsequent nail deformities.

When amputation with loss of two thirds of the nail occurs, half of the fingers develop beaking or a curved nail.

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Prognosis

Oldest recorded patient to show fingertip regeneration was aged 11 years.

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Patient Education

Full growth of nail takes an average of 100 days, but fingertip trauma may delay growth by 20 days.

Average healing time for fingertip amputation is 21-27 days.

Remove sutures after 7-10 days.

For excellent patient education resources, visit eMedicine's Skin, Hair, and Nails Center. Also, see eMedicine's patient education articles Finger Injuries, Nail Injuries, Subungual Hematoma (Bleeding Under Nail), and Splinters.

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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

Glen Vaughn, MD  Director, Department of Emergency Medicine, Defiance Hospital

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Jeffrey Glenn Bowman, MD, MS  Consulting Staff, Highfield MRI

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD  Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Medscape Salary Employment

Eric L Legome, MD  Chief, Department of Emergency Medicine, Kings County Hospital Center; Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, New York Medical College

Eric L Legome, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

John D Halamka, MD, MS  Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Rick Kulkarni, MD  Attending Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Division of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Rick Kulkarni, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: WebMD Salary Employment

References

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Significant nailbed injuries can occur from nail root avulsions.
Removal of the nail plate with iris scissors.
Suturing of a nailbed laceration.
Sutured nailbed injury.
U-stitch method of securing the nail plate.
 
 
 
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