Abstract
PurposePhenolisation is a minimally invasive treatment option in patients with primary pilonidal disease. However, most studies focus on patients with primary pilonidal sinus disease, while data of patients with recurrent pilonidal disease are very scarce. The purpose of this study was to evaluate phenolisation of the sinus tract in patients with recurrent pilonidal sinus disease after previous surgery for SPSD.MethodsThis single-center prospective cohort study included 60 patients with recurrent pilonidal disease. Loss of days of normal daily activities, surgical site infection, wound epithelization, quality of life, and complaints related to pilonidal disease were postoperatively assessed.ResultsA total of 57 patients (95%) were treated with phenolisation and the median loss of days of normal daily activities was 5.0 (1.0 - 12.0) days. Fifty-one patients (89.5%) resumed normal daily activities after two weeks. Surgical site infection occurred in five patients (8.8%). Compared to preoperative scores, quality of life was significantly higher 12 weeks postoperatively (p=0.014) and pain and itch scores were lower after six and 12 weeks (p ≤ 0.005). Wounds were completely healed in 45 of 51 patients (89.8%) who were available after 12 weeks of follow-up.ConclusionPhenolisation for recurrent pilonidal disease is safe with a median complete return to daily activities within five days and complete wound healing after three months in 90%. Therefore, phenolisation should be considered as a treatment option in patients with recurrent pilonidal sinus disease.
Highlights
Sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus disease (SPSD) has a high incidence [1]
In this prospective cohort study, we evaluated phenolisation of the sinus tract in patients with recurrent SPSD after previously undergoing surgery for SPSD
The results showed a median of five days of loss of normal daily activities after phenolisation of the sinus tracts in patients with recurrent SPSD
Summary
Different treatment modalities are currently applied for SPSD. In patients with symptomatic chronic SPSD, excision with or without primary wound closure is very often applied as a definitive management procedure. Wound dehiscence with longer wound healing time is a major problem after this type of surgery. Repeated treatments in the case of recurrence with long recovery times could have a large impact on patients' quality of life. Recently published literature is more focused on minimally invasive treatment modalities such as phenol, laser or endoscopic treatments. In these minimally invasive treatments, wounds are smaller, and wound healing time is shorter
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