Publication:

Pilonidal sinus: excision and primary closure over suction drain and its outcome

Background Pilonidal sinus is a chronic inflammatory disease predominantly involving Sacrococcygeal region. Despite advances in medical sciences, management of pilonidal disease is still not well defined. Treatment varies from simple techniques to more sophisticated surgeries with their own pros and cons.

Methods This prospective observational study comprised of forty-two patients who underwent the surgery for pilonidal sinus as per the procedure described. This study was carried from 1 May 2019 till 30 November 2022. Median age of the patients was 24.5 years, ranging between 19-32 years. Sinus discharge was the predominant symptom of our study population with 34 patients (80.94%) complaining of same.

Results Mean operative time was 54 minutes with a range of 45-78 minutes. Average hospital stay was 1.8 days though it ranged from 1 to 3 days. Five patients (11.90%) developed seroma while four patients (9.52%) had superficial wound site infection. We had two recurrences (4.76%) over the follow-up period of 1 year.

Conclusions Excision and primary closure of the pilonidal disease is effective with comparable complication rates and shorter time off work. The surgery can be easily performed.