Objective To investigate the effectiveness of split nail in the emergency treatment of nail bed partial defect. Methods Between February 2008 and August 2011, 27 cases (30 fingers) of nail bed partial defect were treated. There were 19 males (22 fingers) and 8 females (8 fingers) with an average age of 27.4 years (range, 16-64 years). The causes of injury included machine injury in 25 cases and cutting injury in 2 cases. The injured fingers included 5 thumbs, 7 index fingers, 11 middle fingers, and 9 ring fingers. The disease duration ranged from 30 minutes to 7 hours with an average of 4.3 hours. The size of nail bed defect ranged from 4 mm × 3 mm to 9 mm × 5 mm. All defects were repaired with residual split nail (4 mm × 3 mm-10 mm × 6 mm in size). Results The split nail survived in 25 cases (28 fingers), and primary healing of wound was obtained. Exudation occurred in 2 cases (2 fingers) and was cured after symptomatic treatment. Twenty-three patients (25 fingers) were followed up 5-17 months (mean, 11.1 months). At 3-5 months after operation, the fingernail regeneration was observed in all fingers. Except 2 cases (2 fingers) of delayed healing having poor nail growth, the other patients had smooth nail and normal finger tip function without pain. According effectiveness standard for fingernail regeneration, the results were excellent in 15 fingers, good in 6 fingers, fair in 3 fingers, and poor in 1 finger, with an excellent and good rate of 84%. Conclusion It is a simple and effective method to use residual split nail for emergency treatment of nail bed partial defect.