Pilonidal Sinus: Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment

1. Pilonidal Sinus: Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment By Dr. Manas Ranjan Tripathy

2. PILONIDAL SINUS

3. Pilonidal Sinus: Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment In today’s article, we are going to discussPilonidal Sinus Diseaseor PNS and potential treatment for Pilonidal Sinus. So, what is a Pilonidal Sinus? A pilonidal sinus is a hole is a small hole or tiny fissure in the cleft at the top of the buttocks. This may get filled with fluid or pus but may also get filled with hair, dirt, and debris from the skin. These cause the development of an abscess or cyst. It can cause acute pain and often becomes infected. If it gets infected the pus can ooze out, along with blood with a foul odor. Pilonidal sinus mostly affects men and is more common in people who spend time sitting, like cab drivers. What are the causes of pilonidal sinus? Though the exact causes of pilonidal sinus are not known, it is believed to be due to factors like changing hormones (in teenagers), growth of

4. hair in the area and friction from clothes, particularly if one sits from a prolonged period of time. Continuous sitting or friction can force the hair to grow back into the skin. The body considers this as a foreign particle and the immune system gets into action and responds like it would to a splinter wound. The immune system creates a cyst around the hair. Sometimes, a patient has multiple pilonidal sinuses that form a tiny network under the skin. So, how do you know whether you have a pilonidal sinus? The disease slowly manifests in several symptoms. At first, you may not feel anything except a small depression on the skin of the cleft above your buttocks. However, once the sinus is infected, the immune system forms a cyst. A cyst is a small sac filled with fluid) or an abscess (an inflamed tissue where pus is formed). Then you may experience the following symptoms:

5. Pain when standing or sitting Pain due to the swelling of the cyst Sore or reddened skin around the region Pus and/or blood oozing from the sinus, with a foul smell Hair protruding from the sinus Development of more sinus tracts under the skin Now, for the treatment There are various forms of treatment for pilonidal sinus disease. The treatment can be convenient if your case has been diagnosed early and there are no signs of inflammation or

6. acute pain. In this case, your doctor will give you a broad-spectrum antibiotic. This antibiotic targets a wide range of bacteria. It’s important to know that this treatment will not close the sinus tract itself. It will treat the infection and relieve your discomfort. The physician will recommend a follow-up examination, regular removal of hair, and that you maintain strict hygiene. Another treatment option is Lancing. This treatment procedure alleviates the symptoms of an abscess, the collection of pus inside the hole. You will be administered a local anesthetic; the doctor will then open the abscess with a scalpel. Then he will clean away the pus, hair or blood from inside. The doctor will dress the wound with a sterile material and send you home. The wound usually heals within a month and usually, no follow-up treatment is required. The third type of treatment is a phenol injection. Even here the doctor will give you a local anesthetic. Now, the doctor will inject a chemical compound used an antiseptic directly into the cyst. This antiseptic is called phenol. The injections may have to be repeated a few times,

7. based on your condition. But eventually, they will cause the sinus to become hard and get closed. Another flip side of this treatment is that it has a high rate of recurrence. In fact, the treatment is not popular in the United States. In many cases, surgery is the treatment of choice, especially if the sinus keeps forming back or you have a small network of sinus tracts under the skin. The patient is given a local anesthetic and the surgeon opens the lesion or all the lesions if there are more than one, and cleans up all the pus and other debris from the inside. After, the clean-up, the surgeon will close the lesion, or lesions with stitches, and apply on the whole area. The doctor will explain how to change the dressing and will also recommend shaving the site to prevent new hair from growing back into the wound. Now, for the treatment How does the patient fare after being treated for pilonidal sinus disease? The disease can take anything from 4 to 10 weeks to disappear depending on the severity of the condition.

8. PILONIDAL SINUS TREATMENT

9. Apart from recurrence, the wound can also get infected after the treatment. Signs that the wound may be infected are: Acute pain Skin inflammation The temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higherPus and blood oozing from the wound A foul odor But we always say that prevention is better than cure. You can prevent the development or recurrence of pilonidal sinus disease by keeping the area clean at all times. To prevent the recurrence of PNS, you should wash the area daily and make sure all the soap is removed. The area should be fully dry. You should also avoid sitting for a prolonged period of time. For further information regarding PNS disease, you can check out or this contact us.

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