A new surgical technique has been used to treat incarcerated nails in the Military Hospital of Soest, first described by J.P. Dubois. The technique deals with the soft tissues around the nail. A retrospective study of 192 personal cases shows that this technique, which was used 73 times, is followed by twice less recurrences than the classical simple resection of the nail or of the nail bed. Follow-up of 36 classical operations showed 19 recurrences while Dubois technique only showed 1 out of 29 operations. However this technique is followed in 18% of the cases by a minor infection of the wound that heals after 10 days. There were no painful neuroma of the interdigit nerve.