A new technique in management of pilonidal sinus, a university teaching hospital experience

This paper evaluates a new technique that can lead to excision of pilonidal sinus with less healing time and low recurrence rate. A prospective randomized double-blind controlled study on 142 patients with pilonidal sinus conducted during the period from September 2008 to March 2012. The patients were prospectively randomized to be operated with one of four surgical techniques, excision and primary closure, or excision after using hydrogen peroxide (H202) and primary closure, or excision without closure, or excision after injection of H202 without closure. The main outcome measures were the healing time and the recurrence rate. Out of 142 patients, 118 patients were males (83%), and 24 were females (17%). The mean age was 24.5 years. The recurrence rate in patients treated with excision after injection of H202 without closure was the lowest (1.8%) with P-value < 0.005, and the mean duration of healing was 30.7 days with P-value < 0.005. We recommend using excision after injection of H202 without closure in management of PNS. Injection of H202 into the pilonidal tracts can give a precise delineation of the affected tracts, which can be excised with minimal amount of surrounding normal tissues and hence lead to a quicker recovery and low recurrence rate.