Carcinoma arising in pilonidal sinuses

Pilonidal carcinoma is an infrequent complication of pilonidal disease. The surgeon's suspicion should be raised in cases of longstanding pilonidal inflammation. The disease occurs most frequently in men. The lesion is often a well-differentiated squamous carcinoma. Wide excisions at the initial procedure following a brief period of local wound care, is the optimum treatment and increases the chances for a five-year survival. Definitive closure of the defect is delayed and accomplished by rotational flaps or skin grafts. It palpable nodes are present in the inguinal region they should be biopsied even though this does not necessarily connote metastasis. When inguinal node metastasis is present, this is associated with a poor prognosis. The incidence of occult node metastasis is not known because no prophylactic groin dissections were performed. Staged groin dissections were not associated with any long-term survivals. The series was too small to determine its palliative potential. Radiation therapy may palliate local bone or soft tissue recurrences. Re-excisions of local soft tissue recurrences can provide, in some instances, long disease-free intervals. Both topical and systemic chemotherapy were administered in more recent cases with poor results, but this series is not large enough to form conclusions for this modality of treatment.