Definition for Whitlow:

• In surg. paronychia, a swelling or inflammation about the nails or ends of the fingers, or affecting one or more of the phalanges of the fingers, generally terminating in an abscess. There are four or five varieties of this swelling, according to the texture primarily attacked. Should the skin be the primary seat of the inflammation vesicles appear, which soon discharge pus, giving rapid relief; should the cellular or connective tissue beneath the skin or under the nail be affected, there is a painful feeling of tenseness and throbbing of the part, often accompanied by febrile disturbance until pus can be evacuated, which should be done by incision as soon as the presence and seat of the disease has been discovered. The most dangerous from of whitlow occurs, however, when the tendons and their sheaths or the periosteum are affected; in this form suppuration may extend above the wrist, and may occasion the loss of the finger, the hand, and may seriously, in some rare cases fatally, affect the health of the patient: an inflammatory disease of the feet in sheep; it occurs round the hoof, where an acrid matter is collected, which ought to be discharged.

Synonyms for Whitlow:

• Other synonyms:

  •Other relevant words:
  • carbuncle,
  • pustule,
  • pock,
  • malefactor,
  • felon,
  • ulcer,
  • boil,
  • furuncle,
  • convict,
  • scab,
  • pile,
  • pimple,
  • papule,
  • outlaw,
  • lesion,
  • gathering,
  • fester,
  • criminal,
  • chancre,
  • culprit,
  • wale,
  • sore,
  • canker,
  • abscess,
  • bleb,
  • swelling,
  • wound,
  • bunion,
  • wheal,
  • bend,
  • tubercle,
  • blister,
  • welt,
  • chilblain,
  • rising,
  • whelk,
  • polyp,
  • festering,
  • crook,
  • sty,
  • agnail,
  • paronychia,
  • stigma,
  • thug.

Hyponym for Whitlow:

• n.

  • state
    infection.