A modification of primary closure for the treatment of pilonidal disease in day-care setting.
OBJECTIVE
The best surgical technique for treating sacrococcygeal pilonidal disease (PD) is still controversial. We evaluated the outcome of a modified primary closure for the treatment of pilonidal sinus.


METHODS
One hundred and fifty-two consecutive patients with PD, who underwent excision and primary closure under local anaesthesia according to our method, participated in this prospective study. The duration of operation and of hospitalization, postoperative pain, time to first mobilization, postoperative complications, time to resumption of work were assessed.


RESULTS
The median operative time was 30 min (range: 15-40); the median postoperative pain visual analogue scale score was 1 (range 0-3). All patients were mobilized between 2 and 4 h after surgery and discharged within 10 h. Postoperative complications included eight small debridements of an infected wound (5.3%) and one case of wound dehiscence (0.6%). No recurrence was detected during a median follow-up of 22 months (range: 10-34 months).


CONCLUSIONS
The low complication rate, near total absence of wound dehiscence, the compliance of the patients, the type of anaesthesia and the patient satisfaction makes this method effective. A randomized trial with long-term follow-up is warranted.
Muzi
M G
MG
Department of Surgery, University Hospital Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
Milito
G
G
Nigro
C
C
Cadeddu
F
F
Farinon
A M
AM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010864:Pilonidal Sinus / Q000601:surgery*; D013536:Suture Techniques; D055815:Young Adult