The goal is to evaluate whether surgical excision of the pilonidal disease is needed after resolution of the initial symptoms when the patient follows regular hair removal regimen such as laser epilation.
The goal is to evaluate whether surgical excision of the pilonidal disease is needed after resolution of the initial symptoms when the patient follows regular hair removal regimen such as laser epilation. Patients with pilonidal disease can have significant pain and drainage at the gluteal cleft, and recurrent disease in this teenage and young adult population often leads to social embarrassment, isolation, and time off from work or school. Effective therapy to prevent recurrent disease is urgently needed. The current standard of care is excision of pilonidal cyst. The research will consist of randomized 1:1 controlled trial comparing regular epilation regimen only vs. regular epilation regimen with surgical excision. The research will consist of patient surveys and clinical notes. Surgical excision is not needed to be part of this research. All patients will receive surveys and their charts will be reviewed. At the point of treatment decision making, the patients will be randomized to one of the two options.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
400
Epilation using laser device
Excision of pilonidal pit with trephine
Stanford University School of Medicine
Palo Alto, California, United States
RECRUITINGNumber of participants with recurrent symptoms of pilonidal disease
Time frame: Up to 1 year
Number of participants requiring antibiotic treatment
Time frame: Up to 1 year
Time taken off from school or work due to pilonidal disease
Time frame: Up to 1 year
Effect on parent's daily activities
Parents measure the effect of caring for afflicted children on a 0-10 rating scale, higher scores correspond to more difficulties.
Time frame: Baseline to 1 year
Number of participants requiring additional surgical intervention
Time frame: Up to 1 year
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