title: Vacuum-assisted closure therapy: a new treatment option for recurrent pilonidal sinus disease. Report of three cases.
abstract: No single treatment option available for symptomatic pilonidal disease is entirely satisfactory. In our department, we have treated successfully three cases of pilonidal disease with vacuum-assisted closure therapy. We describe our initial experience with this technique. In two cases, the pilonidal sinus was primarily excised, a split skin graft applied to cover the defect, and the vacuum-assisted closure pump applied over the skin graft for a period of four days on a continuous negative pressure of 50 mmHg. The third case was treated and completely healed with vacuum-assisted closure therapy alone. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature describing the use of vacuum-assisted closure therapy for this condition. We propose this therapy as an alternative adjunctive treatment for pilonidal disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, University College Hospital Galway, Galway, Ireland. jennylynch@oceanfree.net
authors.forename: Jenny B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Laing
authors.forename: Padraic J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Regan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010864:Pilonidal Sinus / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D012008:Recurrence; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D013396:Suction / Q000379:methods*; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014618:Vacuum; D014945:Wound Healing