2.3 | Procedure
a) Before intervention: All patients were verbally informed about nail surgery at ourpatient clinic, and an appointment was scheduled. Also on the day of the surgery the patients were administered a standardized written information form about the methods of nail surgery. They completed the written consent form before the procedure.
Initially, the patient information form was completed. The first part of the form was completed by a health care provider, addressing the indication of nail surgery, presence of granulation tissue, localization of the surgical area, length of time from recommendation to nail surgery, etc. Fort the second part of the form the patients completed a questionnaire assessing demographic and current medical characteristics (age, sex, educational status, and previous nail surgery and/or dermatological intervention, prescribed medications). Afterwards, they were asked to complete the Turkish version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) form and Skindex-16 without any help from health care providers and/or biopsy staff immediately before the intervention. Adequate time and confidentiality provided for all patients. The pain was scored before intervention on the VAS scale 0–10 (0 = no pain, 10 = worst imaginable pain).
STAI is a self-report scale, and it is one of the most common validated tests measuring different aspects of anxiety levels in individuals.7, 8 The STAI includes 40 items measures anxiety among individuals aged 14 years and older. The test has two parts: State/Trait. The S-part (STAI-S) measures the state of anxiety at that moment. The T-part (STAI-T) measures the anxiety generally. STAI-S has a four-point Likert format with the following response scale: not at all, somewhat, moderately so, and very much so. STAI-T also has a four-point Likert form with a response scale: almost never, sometimes, often, and almost always. The test score ranges from 20 to 80 points, and higher scores show more significant levels of anxiety.8
Skindex-16 is a self-report scale assessing impairment of quality of life in patients with dermatological diseases. For determining the quality of life, patients completed the Turkish version of Skindex-16.9
b) Intervention: After distal digital wing anaesthesia (40 mg lidocaine plus 0.025 mg adrenaline/2 mL) with a 26-gauge insulin syringe lateral nail avulsion and chemical matricectomy with phenol 88% was performed.
c) After intervention: Immediately after nail surgery, STAI form were completed again, and VAS score for pain during the intervention were recorded.