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.