Investigating the Effect of Autologous Platelet-Rich Plasma on Pain in Patients with Pilonidal Abscess Treated with Surgical Removal of Extensive Tissue

BACKGROUND:

Pilonidal is a painful disease which occurs mainly in the sacrococcygeal area. In 1833 Herbert Mayo first reported a case of a young woman with a hair-containing sinus in the sacrococcygeal area. In 1880, Hodge suggested the term “pilonidal” from the Latin “pilus” for hair and “nidus” meaning nest.

OBJECTIVES:

Effect of using autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on pain reduction in patients with pilonidal abscess, subjected to extensive surgical removal tissue, was investigated through a clinical trial.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

The trial was conducted on two groups from the Center for Surgical Research at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences located at Ghaem hospital in Mashhad city in 2011. Purposive sampling was conducted and the samples were randomly assigned to two groups including test and control. All of the patients referred to the surgical unit of Imam-Reza hospital with acute pilonidal abscess (sacrococcygeal abscess) were considered and randomly assigned to two groups. Patients’ dressing was not removed for two days. To avoid systematic errors (Bias), the resident who checked the wound for the first time was completely unaware of the patient’s treatment plan. Recovery process and wound healing were monitored for the two groups and compared with each other (every other day for 10 days, and then once a week until complete healing). Data analysis was performed using SPSS19 software with Chi-square, independent t, and Mann-Whitney tests.

RESULTS:

Based on the obtained results it was found that the pain in the test group was significantly reduced in the first and fourth weeks (P < 0.05), compared to the control group.

CONCLUSIONS:

Therefore, it has been demonstrated that using PRP can significantly reduce pain in patients subjected to surgical treatment for their pilonidal abscess.