The infected pilonidal sinus

During the past 11 years (1985-1996), 324 patients with pilonidal sinus were treated. In 272 cases primary wound closure was performed, in contrast to 52 cases with secondary wound healing. One hundred and fourteen patients were additionally treated with an antibiotic carrier (group 1), 158 were not (group 2). In group 1 primary healing occurred in only 66% of cases vs 69% in group 2. We found wound complications with a lag time of 4 days in comparison with group 2. Serious wound secretion persisted longer in group 1, resulting in a longer hospital stay of 6.5 days on average. We conclude that the application of antibiotic carriers does not raise the rate of primary wound healing. Better results can be achieved by secondary wound healing appropriate treatment with hydrocolloidal moist wound dressings.