Video-assisted ablation of pilonidal sinus (VAAPS) versus sinusectomy for treatment of chronic pilonidal sinus disease: a comparative study

Since its first description in 1883, different treatments for pilonidal sinus disease have been proposed, but we are still far from the identification of an ideal approach. The objective of this study is to determine if video-assisted ablation of pilonidal sinus (VAAPS) could be considered superior/non-inferior to standard sinusectomy for treatment of pilonidal sinus disease. After applying propensity score analysis, data from 40 patients who underwent sinusectomy and 40 patients who underwent VAAPS, from March 2011 to August 2013, were collected. The two groups were similar in terms of sex, age, BMI, smoking status and complexity of sinus. The mean operative time was less for the sinusectomy group compared with the minimally invasive treatment group (30.38 ± 6.23 vs 44.39 ± 7.76; p = 0.001). On the other hand, the recurrence rate (7.5% vs 25%; p = 0.035) was significantly lower in the VAAPS group and the infection rate showed a trend toward reduction in the endoscopically treated patients (12.5% vs 30%; p = 0.057). No differences were found in terms of pain score at 1 week from surgery (3.71 ± 1.24 vs 3.76 ± 1.39; p = 0.883), satisfaction at 6 months (8.3 ± 1.2 vs 8.2 ± 1.3; p = 0.78) and time off work (2.01 ± 1.30 vs 2.08 ± 1.24; p = 0.620). The effectiveness of our new technique can be assessed again and the comparative analysis with the conventional sinusectomy shows the feasibility of VAAPS, suggesting that this procedure is the best way to perform a sinusectomy.