Limberg-flap: Prospective Data Collection

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Pilonidal Sinus

Interventions: Procedure: Limberg-flap

Registration Number: NCT00672555

Lead Sponsor: Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen

Brief Summary: The investigators think, that the treatment of pilonidal sinus with excision and covering of the defect with a Limberg-flap is a very good treatment option. The investigators are introducing this treatment for recurrences of this illness in our clinic and want to analyse the feasibility, the results, the complications and the patients opinion after the treatment.

If the results are good, a prospective randomised study is a further option.

Detailed Description: 1. Patients, that come to our clinic with problems caused by a pilonidal sinus are informed about the different treatment options of the illness.

* If the patient suffers of a recurrence of the illness, a complete excision, followed by a covering of the defect with a Limberg-flap is recommended.

* If the patient has the first time problems by a pilonidal sinus, we recommend an open limited excision of the fistulas.

* In cases with acute infected situation, we first conduct a very limited incision/excision and treat them with antibiotics. The treatments mentioned before are in such cases offered 3 to 4 Weeks after the fist little operation.

2. All Patients, that wish their pilonidal sinus treated with a complete excision followed by a covering of the defect with a Limberg-flap, are asked if they are willing to participate in the observational study.

3. Patients, who gave their informed consent for the operation and the study are included.

4. Preoperative data are recorded.

5. The patients are operated on and intraoperative data (e.g. how big was the flap) are recorded.

6. After 3 Weeks the patients are checked and complications, happiness and duration of the time off work are recorded.

7. After a year the patients are contacted by sending them a postal questionnaire, which they send back to us. Additionally the are contacted by phone. Recurrence, other complications and their opinion concerning the treatment and its consequences are recorded.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 70

Inclusion Criteria

Recurrence or persistence of a pilonidal sinus
Elective Limberg-flap operation
Written informed consent of the patient for the operation and participation of the study

Exclusion Criteria

Doubts of the capability of the patient to understand the study or to decide.

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Pilonidal Sinus T. With Limberg F.	Limberg-flap	All patients treated by excision and covering of the defect by a Limberg-flap, who gave their informed consent to participate in the study, as there is only one study group.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Recurrence of a Pilonidal Sinus After Operation Using a Limberg-flap Procedure	1 year	At 1 year all patients were assessed. Patients with a recurrence of a pilonidal sinus were counted. The result is given as number of patients suffering from a recurrence.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Cosmetic Score	1 year	Patients was sent a postal questionnaire at 1 year, assessing cosmesis with the body image questionnaire adapted from Dunker et al. Cosmetic score resulting form 3 questions: worst 3; best 24.
Body Image Score	1 year	Patients was sent a postal questionnaire at 1 year, assessing body image with the body image questionnaire adapted from Dunker et al. Body image score resulting form 5 questions: worst 5; best 20.
Reoperations Needed for Treatment of Complication	1year	All patients were seen at the outpatients clinic at 3 weeks. Follow-up control was initiated at 1 year. All reoperations that were done were assessed and measured.
Minor Complications (Wound Complications)	1 year	All wound complications were assessed; part of them being only very minor dehiscences or slight infections. They were assessed in the outpatients clinic at 3 Weeks and in the follow-up control initiated at 1 year. All patients suffering from a wound complication that occurred in the first year were counted.
Patient Overall Satisfaction With Procedure	1 year	Follow-up was initiated at 1 year. A postal questionnaire was sent to the patients with a VAS assessing overall satisfaction. Possible values were: lowest: 0; highest 10.

Trial Locations

Locations (2): Department of sugery, Cantonal hospital of St. Gallen
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Rorschach, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Department of surgery, Cantonal hospital of St. Gallen
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St. Gallen, Switzerland