View source for Whitlow

{{About|infection of the tip of the finger|infection at the side or base of the fingernail|Paronychia|other uses|Whitlow (disambiguation)}}
{{short description|Infection of the fingertip}}
{{Infobox medical condition
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 |synonyms        = Felon
 |image           = Infection of the pulp space of the thumb.jpg
 |caption         = An infection of the pulp space of the thumb
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 |specialty       = [[Infectious diseases (medical specialty)|Infectious diseases]]
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A '''whitlow''' or '''felon''' is an [[infection]] of the tip of the [[finger]].<ref>{{DorlandsDict|nine/000117333|whitlow}}</ref><ref name="FitzAtlas">{{cite book |author=Fitzpatrick, Thomas B. |author2=Klauss Wolff |author3=Wolff, Klaus Dieter |author4=Johnson, Richard R. |author5=Suurmond, Dick |author6=Richard Suurmond |title=Fitzpatrick's color atlas and synopsis of clinical dermatology |publisher=McGraw-Hill Medical Pub. Division |year=2005 |isbn=0-07-144019-4 }}</ref>{{efn|The term ''whitlow'' derives from the Scandinavian ''whickflaw'', combining a variant of ''quick'' (a sensitive spot) and ''flaw''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Walter William Skeat|title=A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8X0ZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA560|access-date=March 5, 2013|year=1895|publisher=Harper & Bros.|pages=560–}}</ref><ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flaw <sup>2</sup>flaw] and [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quick <sup>2</sup>quick] from {{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary |title= Free Dictionary |publisher= Merriam-Webster |access-date= March 5, 2013 }}</ref> ''Felon'' comes from the Old French, derived from the Latin root ''fel-'', literally meaning "bile" and referring to the toxic content of the abscess.<ref>{{cite book|last=Diab|first=Mohammad|title=Lexicon of Orthopaedic Etymology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fstFQVnw8-wC&pg=PA115|access-date=March 6, 2013|year=1999|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-90-5702-597-6|page=115}}</ref>}} [[Herpetic whitlow]] and melanotic whitlow (subungual melanoma) are subtypes that are not synonymous with the term ''felon''. A felon is an "extremely painful abscess on the palmar aspect of the fingertip".<ref name="Dorlands">Dorland's Medical Dictionary: 29th Edition.</ref> Whitlow usually refers to herpetic whitlow, though it can also refer to melanotic whitlow (subungual melanoma),<ref name="pmid11442597">{{cite journal |vauthors=Haneke E, Baran R |title=Longitudinal melanonychia |journal=Dermatol Surg |volume=27 |issue=6 |pages=580–4 |date=June 2001 |pmid=11442597 |doi= 10.1111/j.1524-4725.2001.01916.x}}</ref> which somewhat resembles [[acral lentiginous melanoma]]. The terms ''whitlow'' and ''felon'' are also sometimes misapplied to [[paronychia]], which is an infection of the tissue at the side or base of the [[Nail (anatomy)|nail]]. Felon presents with a throbbing pain, clinically.

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{EB1911 poster|Whitlow}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Diseases of the skin and appendages by morphology}}
{{Cutaneous infections}}

[[Category:Occupational diseases]]
[[Category:Conditions of the skin appendages]]

{{Cutaneous-infection-stub}}