Endoscopic Treatment of Pilonidal Sinus May Decrease the Recurrence After Crystallized Phenol Application

Endoscopic treatment and crytallized phenol application are two sovereign treatments described for pilonidal disease. The curative rate may be as low as 65 % and the recurrence rate is at least 10 % after crystallized phenol alone application for pilonidal disease. The experience with endoscopic treatment of pilonidal sinus is only limited but at least 4 % recurrence rate was reported.

In this study a preliminary group of 23 patients were treated with combination of these two modalities between February to May 2014 and at the end of 6-9 months follow up, there was no recurrence after excellent cosmetic results. Patients were all operated and mild sedation and local anesthesia. There was no serious complication but only some skin irritation was noticed secondary to phenol burn. Some patients felt mild pain and the pain was self limited in most cases where only a few needed oral pain killers. Some patients were observed to have mild drainage from the sinus but only two of them needed further application of phenol crystals.