Pilonidal Sinus Treatment

What is Pilonidal Sinus?

Pilonidal sinus is a small hole in the intergluteal cleft.  It is a common disease.  It is usually found over the tailbone at the cleft at the top of the buttocks.  It can get filled up with fluid or pus resulting in the formation of a cyst or abscess.  A pilonidal cyst usually contains hair and debris of skin.  It can cause severe pain and so it needs to be treated. If left as such it leads to Branching and disease progression.

Chronic Pilonidal Cysts can lead to the formation of abscess and sinus cavities.  Sinus cavities are empty spaces underneath the skin.

Causes of Pilonidal Sinus

The most common cause for a Pilonidal Sinus is loose hairs that puncture the skin forcing the hair into it.  It usually happens near the tail bone. 

• Sedentary lifestyle
• Being overweight / Obesity
• Sitting for prolonged periods of time.
• Thick body hair
• Prior injuries
• Travel on vehicles with less shock absorber or bumpy roads (Jeep driver’s disease)
• Poor hygiene
• Increased sweating

All the above increases the risk factors for getting Pilonidal Sinus.  It is usually more common in men.

Symptoms of Pilonidal Sinus / Pilonidal cyst

Pilonidal Cysts can become infected, which causes inflammation of the skin around the cyst and pain.  It can be extremely painful, especially while sitting.  Symptoms include:

• Pain, that gets worse with sitting.
• Inflamed or swollen skin between the buttocks that feels tender and appear red.
• Pus or blood oozing from the area.
• Foul odor

Pilonidal Sinus Treatment Options

• Excision
• Excision and Flap Repair
• Endoscopic Pilonidal Sinus Treatment (EPSiT)
• LASER ablation of Pilonidal Sinus (LAPS)
• Video-assisted LASER Ablation of the Pilonidal Sinus (VALAPS)

Excision

The entire tract is excised. The wound is dressed and it heals in 2 months’ time.

Excision & Flap Repair

In this procedure, the diseased tissue is excised and the wound is closed with a Flap for reconstruction of the tissue.  This helps prevent recurrence.  Early healing of the wound happens.

Endoscopic Pilonidal Sinus Treatment (EPSiT)

In Endoscopic Pilonidal Sinus Treatment, a small camera is used to explore the sinus.  The sinus epithelium is cauterized or burnt and cleaned.  The camera aids the surgeon to visualize the sinus and identify if there are any branching tunnels.  Because the wounds are very small, there is less pain and patients can resume work early.

Video-assisted LASER Ablation of Pilonidal Sinus (VALAPS)

This is a minimally invasive procedure.  In this procedure a video scope is used to guide a sharp curettage to remove the hair and debris from the sinus tract.  A LASER ablation is done to ablate the sinus tract epithelium The video scope allows direct vision of the tract helping the surgeon to perform the procedure complete.

Advantages

• Wounds get covered in a day
• Significantly reduces healing time from months to days
• Very unlikely to recur

Pilonidal Sinus Doctors

General Surgery Department at Keyhole Clinic has the Best Doctors for Pilonidal Sinus Treatment in Kochi.