A comparison of closed surgery with deep suturing and secondary repair (open) in treating pilonideal disease in Fourth Air Force Base and Ayatollah Nabavi Hospital in Dezful

Pilonideal disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the sacrococcygeal region that affects mainly young hairy males. Its pathogenesis is not completely understood. The only successful treatment is surgery. In this study two surgical approaches were compared in terms of length of operation، hospital stay، recovery time، number of postoperative visits، size of scar، and postoperative infection and pain. Patients with chronic pilonideal disease were selected from 108 patients. They were randomly assigned to either closed surgery group (n=41) or secondary repair group (n=43) and followed for one year post operatively. Data were analyzed in the SPSS software using t and chi square tests. Eighty-four patients with an average age of 24 years (range: 16-37) were studied including 44 men (52. 4%) and 40 women (48. 6%). The closed surgery technique was significantly superior in all the above mentioned parameters except length of operation (p<0. 01). No case of infection or recurrence was observed. Considering the fewer complications، lower cost due to less frequent visits، a more rapid return to daily activities، and less pain in the first group and the fact that most such patients are young individuals who can acceptably tolerate a rather longer operation and anesthesia، closed surgery with deep suturing is recommended as the optimal approach for this condition.