Results of Crystalized Phenol Application in the Treatment of Pilonidal Sinus Disease in Children: Our Single Center Experience

Objective: The debate about the etiology of Pilonidal Sinus Disease (PSD) continues over whether the disease is congenital or acquired. After determining the etiologic factora, new pilonidal sinus treatment methods have been developed. Method: The 6-month follow-up results of patients who were treated with crystallized phenol (CF) application with the diagnosis of PSD between March 2020 and August 2020 in the Pediatric Surgery Clinic were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were evaluated by age, height, weight, gender, body mass index, number of sinus mouths, sinus mouth width, sacral cupping distance and cyst diameter by imaging method and pilonidal sinus area measurement. After three consecutive weeks of CF administration, a two-week break was given. Every three weeks of treatment was considered as one treatment cycle. CF treatment was considered unsuccessful for patients whose pilonidal sinus cavity was not closed at the end of three cycles and the complaint of discharge persisted. Results: During the study period, 21 patients with PSH and a maximum of three sinus orifices were treated with CF in our clinic. Including 15 (71.4%) male and 6 (18.6%) female cases. The median age of the patients was 16 (14-17.5) years. In two patients (9.5%) who received three cycles of treatment, the treatment was considered as CF treatment failure because of the persistence of discharge complaints, and surgical treatment was planned for the patient. In the findings obtained as a result of the follow-up of the patients, it was observed that three patients (14.2%) had temporary painless transient dermatitis during follow-up due to phenol applied. Conclusion: The application of CF in the PSD treatment in pediatric age group should be considered as an acceptable method that can be easily applied by any surgeon with its short hospital stay, its applicability under local anesthesia in outpatient clinic conditions, low postoperative complications, high success rates, and low cost.