Limberg Flap Reconstruction for Pilonidal Sinus

Abstract

Background: Pilonidal sinus is a relatively common condition affecting men twice as often as women. The estimated incidence is 26 per 100,000 people. The management of pilonidal sinus disease remains controversial, and gold standard treatment modality has yet to be established. Limberg procedure is a safe and reliable technique in the treatment of sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus disease, with low complication and recurrence rates if performed according to appropriate surgical principles. Methods: This is a Prospective study on 52 patients between Jan 2012 to Dec 2015 at Plastic surgery Department at a tertiary care hospital. Patients having primary or recurrent pilonidal sinus disease underwent this operation. Results: Fifty Two patients had this surgery. Among them, 38 (73%) were males and 14 (27%) were female. The mean age was 31, (Range: 17-45 years). 14 (26.9%) presented with recurrent sinus and 5 of them had previous surgery on more than one occasions. One hundred and seven patients (97.27%) had full primary healing without any complication. Two (4%) patient had minimal epidermolysis of flap corners. One (1.92%) had slight gaping of wound edges. However all three healed completely with conservative treatment. The mean length of hospital stay was 2.45 (Range: 1-5days) and most patients returned to work within 3 weeks. Conclusion: Limberg flap is very effective for pilonidal disease with low complicaion rates, short hospitalisation, low recurrence rates, earlier healing and shorter time off-work. The surgery can be easily mastered. We recommend Limberg flap as prefered surgery for cases of Pilionidal sinus.