To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Shiwei-Jinghuang Ointment combined with Chinese herbal external washing prescription in the treatment of acute paronychia.

A total of 126 patients with acute paronychia in Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences from January to December 2019, who met the inclusion criteria, were divided into 3 groups according to the random number table method (42 in each group). The treatment group was treated with Shiwei-Jinghuang Ointment combined with Chinese herbal external washing prescription. The control group 1 and group 2 were simply applied with Chinese herbal external washing prescription and mupirocin ointment, respectively. All groups were treated for 2 weeks and followed up 2 months. Serum CRP level was determined by ELISA method, and neutrophil percentage (NEU%) was measured by automatic hematology analyzer. The subsided time of red swelling and inflammatory exudation in nail groove of the paronychia patients were observed and recorded.

The total effective rate was 90.5% (38/42) in the treatment group, 71.4% (30/42) in the control group 1 and 66.7% (28/42) in the control group 2. The statistical difference were significant among three groups (χ²=7.350, P=0.025). After treatment, the serum CRP level and NEU% in three groups were decreased (P<0.01), and the serum CRP and NEU% level in treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group 1 and group 2 (F values were 6.482, 33.619, respectively, all Ps<0.001). After 2 months of follow-up, the incidences of chronic paronychia were 50.0% (6/12) and 57.1% (8/14) in control group 1 and group 2, respectively, but no chronic paronychia occurred in the treatment group. The difference among three groups was statistically significant (χ²=9.355, P=0.009).

The combination of Shiwei-Jinghuang Ointment and Chinese herbal external washing prescription can promote paronychia red swelling, reduce the inflammatory exudation time and the incidence of chronic paronychia, effectively improve the in vivo decrease inflammation index and clinical efficacy.

Paronychia; Shiwei-Jinghuang Ointment; Unguentum (TCD); Chinese herbal external washing prescription; External preparations