Invited Commentary: 5- and 10-Year Recurrence Rate Is the New Gold Standard in Pilonidal Sinus Surgery Benchmarking

Pilonidal sinus disease is a disease of young men that results in prolonged time off from work, its incidence being approximately 1 in 1,000. Now, 129 years after the first description of pilonidal sinus disease, there is a wide range of therapies and still controversy about the management of the condition. The only cure may be surgery, but every new conservative method needs to be thoroughly examined and compared with established methods in terms of aggressiveness and effectiveness. This is the case with phenol treatment of pilonidal sinus disease. First instituted in 1964 by Maurice and Greenwood, they found a recurrence rate of 19% after 18 months of follow-up. Twenty-four studies using phenol have been published since then, with patient numbers up to 143, fol- low-up periods between 1 month and 98 months, and a recurrence rate between 9% and 19%.