Fingertip injuries management with semi-occlusive dressing.

We have developed a simple, cheap and efficient method of management of fingertip injury using a semi-occlusive dressing ("Opsite"--Smith and Nephew). The fingertip is covered with the "Opsite" once a week only. The dressing provides a temporary "skin", making the finger painless. This semi-occlusive "skin" allows the healing environment to reach an optimal milieu (e.g. pH, oxygen, tension, immunoagents) actively promoting granulation tissue formation and epithelialization. The result of 200 fingertip injuries treated with this method proves the development of a near normal pulp shape and useful epithelium within an average of 20 days.