Primary closure techniques in chronic pilonidal sinus - A survey of the results of different surgical approaches

PURPOSE: Pilonidal sinus is a common disease and surgical removal and subsequent wound closure is crucial for lasting cure. To evaluate the outcome of different primary closure techniques we performed a pooled analysis of data published in the past 35 years. METHODS: We identified reports on wound infection, early failure, and late recurrence status in relation to treatment modality. Surgical techniques were classified into five groups: simple closure technique in the midline, asymmetric or oblique closure techniques, and full-thickness flap techniques like rhomboid flaps, vy-plasty, and z-plasty. Estimations of the incidences resulted from the quotient of number of responses and the number of patients for each study, and these quotients were summarized over all studies. RESULTS: The MEDLINE search identified 74 publications including 10,090 patients. Pooled data analysis revealed an inhomogeneous effect of the surgical techniques on the infection rate. In contrast, there was a significantly lower early failure rate and late recurrence rate of both the asymmetric-oblique closure techniques and the full-thickness flap techniques when compared with the midline repair technique. No difference was found between the asymmetric repairs and the full-thickness flap techniques. CONCLUSION: Beside the various statistical considerations when using a pooled data analysis combining results from the literature, this overview suggests a significant benefit of asymmetric-oblique closure techniques or flap, techniques in comparison with simple closure in the midline. Thus, we recommend an asymmetric closure technique for primary closure of a chronic pilonidal sinus. These asymmetric procedures provide better results than the simple closure in the natal midline. Furthermore, they are not as sophisticated as the full-thickness plasty techniques.