Panaritium is an acute purulent inflammatory process of soft tissues, which most often develops in the area of the nail on the finger or toe. Patients come to the doctor with complaints of inflammation of the finger, as a rule, already at an advanced stage of the disease, when surgical treatment is required, moreover, painful, voluminous and with a long rehabilitation period. The patient should be warned that panaritium is not at all a harmless damage to the skin on the finger, and without careful treatment can cause inflammation of the bones, joints of the hand and, in especially severe cases, even lead to amputation of the finger.
Causes of panaritium and characteristic symptoms
Panaritium always appears due to a microtrauma caused by a sharp object or a foreign body that has fallen under the nail. Further, bacteria of Staphylococcus aureus penetrate into the entrusted wound (streptococci or enterococci can also be the causative agent of inflammation). If the patient is sick with diabetes mellitus, has immunodeficiency, beriberi, diseases associated with impaired blood supply to the hand, then the purulent process will develop especially quickly and it will be very difficult to cure it.
Types of panaritium:
- dermal – abscess localized under the epidermis on the back of the finger;
- periungual – the periungual ridge becomes inflamed at the edge of the nail plate;
- subungual – inflammation of the soft tissues under the nail plate;
- subcutaneous – inflammation of the subcutaneous fat on the finger from the side of the palm, developing deeper;
- bone – damage to the bone of the finger when the inflammation spreads deep into the tissues adjacent to it;
- articular – damage to the interphalangeal joint, purulent arthritis, possible after a long and untreated & nbsp; inflammatory process in the soft tissues of the finger;
- tendon – purulent inflammation of the finger, when the tendon of the finger is affected and dies.
Bone and articular types of panaritium can develop both with a deep wound of the joint, and with an advanced form of subcutaneous inflammation of the finger. A complication of the disease can be pandactylitis – severe purulent inflammation of all tissues of the finger, often ending in mutilation.
Characteristic symptoms of panaritium requiring immediate treatment:
- severe throbbing pain in the focus of inflammation, depriving the night of sleep;
- swelling of the finger, swelling at the site of injury;
- signs of suppuration, sensation of fullness of the finger from the inside;
- flask-shaped finger;
- skin tightness, glossy appearance;
- chills, fever, headache;
- limited movement of the finger, its half-bent position;
- increased pain when lowering the arm.
Treatment of panaritium and measures to prevent complications
The nature of the treatment of panaritium depends on the stage of inflammation of the finger. At the beginning of the inflammatory process, salt baths and antibiotics are enough. If we are talking about intense pain, leading to sleepless nights, then surgical treatment is indicated with the opening of an abscess, drainage, excision of exfoliated tissues, and individual antibacterial therapy.
The patient should be aware that without timely surgical intervention there is a risk of necrosis of the tendon of the finger, pandactylitis, phlegmon of the hand, chronic osteomyelitis of the finger. A positive outcome of the treatment of panaritium is possible only with the earliest possible medical care.
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