Surgical treatment for pilonidal abscess is the gold standard, but not yet well codified. Different techniques proposed can be conservative or radical.
The aim of our study was to compare postoperative outcomes of both methods in one-stage treatment strategy.
This is a comparative study including patients operated on for pilonidal abscess, with a satisfactory postoperative follow-up, over a period of 4 years. We looked for the occurrence of postoperative recurrence in the medical records or by interviewing reachable patients.
We analyzed 57 patients: 33 males and 24 females. The mean age was 26.9±10 years. The type of operation was excision in 46 (81%) cases and incision in 11 (19%) cases associated with curettage in three cases and drainage in 1 case. There was no statistically significant relationship between the type of surgery and the occurrence of postoperative surgical complications (p=1) and hospital stay (p=0.4). Excision of pilonidal abscess was significantly associated with a longer time to return to activity (p=0.04). Conservative surgery was significantly associated with faster healing of the surgical wound (p<0.001). The recurrence rate was 19% in radical surgery and 54% in conservative surgery. Radical surgery was significantly associated with a lower recurrence rate than incision procedure (p=0.02).
Excision of pilonidal abscess was the common technique in our series, with a significantly lower rate of recurrence of the disease than after incision. However, the long convalescence following excision and the longer operating time, particularly in an emergency context, may sometimes lead to choosing conservative surgery.
The best treatment for anal fistula should extirpate infection and promote healing of the tract, whilst preserving the anal sphincter complex and full continence.
To analyze the success rate after a modified technique for ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) for patients with anal fistulas.
A prospective (observational cohort study) Brazilian bi-institutional experience with a modified (ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract without excision) LIFT technique was undertaken. A clinical database was settled for the following variables: age, gender, BMI, comorbidities, distance between external orifice and the anus, previous fistula surgery, type of fistula, operative time, intra- and postoperative complications, duration of follow-up, and success rate.
Between November 2015 and January 2017, 38 patients with transsphincteric fistulas were operated on using the modified LIFT procedure. Seventeen (44.7%) were men. Median age was 41 (18-67) years. Median BMI was 26.4 (22-38) kg/m2. Five (13.2%) had undergone previous surgery. The fistula was transsphincteric in all cases. Median follow-up was 32 (range, 14-56) weeks. Success was observed in 30 (79%) patients.
The LIFT technique without excision of the fistula tract proved to be safe and effective for transsphincteric anal fistulas.
Desenvolvido por Surya MKT