The effect of different surgical methods on complications and on the quality of life in pilonidal sinus disease

Abstract

Purpose: Pilonidal sinus, especially seen in young men, is known to be a distressed condition both in preoperative and postoperative period. Many surgical methods are defined to have advantages against each other, in many different publications in the medical literature. In this study, we aimed to compare two different methods in terms of postoperative complications, recurrence and patients' quality of life.

Patients and Methods: A total of 98 patients who have undergone surgical treatment for pilonidal sinus between February 2002 and August 2010 were included in this study. Patients were divided into two groups: Group I was treated by excision and primary repair and Group II was treated by Limberg flap.

Results: When evaluated according to the characteristics of patients included in the study, there were no differences in mean age and gender between Group I and II (p=0.496, p=0.382). The duration of surgery was lower in Group I (p<0.001). Postoperat ive hospital stay, minor complications and the rate of recurrence did not differ between groups (p=0.712, p=1.000, p=1.000). The periods until walking without pain, sitting on toilet without pain and returning to work were lower in Group II, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001). However, the patients in Group I have expressed that they are more satisfied with the cosmetic results (p<0.001).

Conclusion: We found that these two methods did not differ in terms of postoperative minor complications and the rate of recurrence. We observed that the patients were more satisfied with excision and primary repair, in cosmetic point of view. Therefore, we believe that it would be more appropriate to consider the patient's postoperative life and satisfaction as much as we consider the rate of recurrence while deciding the type of surgical method for pilonidal sinus.