At the Pilonidal Treatment Center of New Jersey (PTCNJ), we believe that successfully treating pilonidal disease is only part of the story. To truly evaluate whether a treatment is effective, robust data collection is essential. As avid clinical researchers, the surgeons at PTCNJ have developed a comprehensive approach to collecting and maintaining patient outcomes data.…
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The gluteal cleft-lift procedure has been established as the superior treatment for tailbone-area pilonidal disease (The Data Mounts: 261 Cleft Lifts for Complex Pilonidal Disease and Excisional Failures – PubMed),(The Bascom Cleft Lift as a Solution for All Presentations of Pilonidal Disease – PubMed). Nevertheless, it is not perfect. A subset of patients will unfortunately develop chronic…
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The truth is that the intrabuttock location of tailbone-area pilonidal disease leaves the disorder somewhat stigmatized; in essence, embarrassing for the patient and “non-glamorous” for the treating physician. Colorectal surgeons, as an example, typically thought to focus on this part of the body, would much rather be surgically removing colon cancer with the use of a…
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A diagnosis of tailbone-area pilonidal disease has been established and you wish to avoid surgery. How do you travel safely with the lowest risk of a flareup? When sitting for a prolonged period of time , either in a car, airplane, or even waiting in the airport, be sure to sit on an ergonomic coccyx…
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You actually had your first pilonidal abcess, not a “cyst.” Incorrectly labeling an abscess a “cyst” leads the non specialized surgeon to try to cut out the “cyst” when it again becomes inflamed, which it generally does. It is an abscess, a collection of pus under the tailbone skin, associated with tailbone-area pilonidal disease. Getting the…
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Before reading here , please review my definition of tailbone-area pilonidal disease terms Pilonidal Cyst vs Abscess vs Sinus: What’s the Difference? – Pilonidal Treatment Center of New Jersey Many understand that “pilonidal cyst” is a misleading term and its use is therefore discouraged by most specialists; so then what is pilonidal cyst removal surgery or,…
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Pilonidal cyst is the accumulation of hair shafts, lint and debris within a defunctionalized hair follicle within the gluteal crease skin at the midline. The hair enters via the “midline pit”, the follicular orifice at the epidermal level which is grossly visible as a dilated pore. A pilonidal abscess is a pilonidal cyst which has become…
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Hair plays a critical role in the development and recurrence of pilonidal disease. For years, hair control has been recommended as part of conservative pilonidal care, but the method of hair removal has often been debated. At the Pilonidal Treatment Center of New Jersey (PTCNJ), our approach continues to evolve as new evidence emerges and…
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Simply put: patients should not be subjected to open-wound excision for pilonidal disease. In my experience as a physician specializing in pilonidal disease at PTCNJ, this operation is most often offered by surgeons who have not taken a focused interest in the condition itself. Pilonidal disease is frequently misunderstood, minimized, or treated as a minor…
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The aimless open-wound pilonidal cystectomy is as pointless as it is morbid. Recovery is painful and lengthy, and if the wound ever does heal, recurrence of pilonidal symptoms is commonplace. Because we at the PTCNJ have so much experience treating these horrid wounds, we routinely recommend immediate repair/closure regardless of the time passed since surgery. Our data…
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