Treatment of pilonidal sinuses by phenol injections

Six female and 39 male outpatients, who suffered from acutely inflamed pilonidal sinus were treated by sclerotherapy between January 1985 and December 1988. Under local anaesthesia, 1-2 ml 80% phenol was injected into the sinus. The phenol, which was allowed to act for a minute, was washed out by irrigating the sinus with physiological common-salt solution. Of the questionnaire sent to all 45 patients, 37 proved suitable for evaluation. Complete healing occurred in 22 cases (59.8%). The healing time was 6.2 weeks on average. Besides a rather frequently observed transient reddening as a result of the local inflammation caused by the phenol, 5 patients developed an abcess which needed operative treatment. This study does not support the encouraging results of previous series.