The role of negative pressure wound therapy in the treatment of pilonidal disease

Pilonidal disease is a particularly difficult disorderto treat. Guidelines and recommendations for the treatment ofpilonidal disease neglect the use of negative pressure woundtherapy (NPWT), but studies strongly support the role of NPWTin preventing surgical site infection in high-risk patients.During a webinar on the pilonidal disease, we asked 51participants to complete a questionnaire about the treatmentof pilonidal disease. They answered questions about treatmentpractices for patients with a pilonidal disease, and the use ofNPWT.The study showed that a relatively large number of surgeonsuse NPWT to treat patients with the pilonidal disease. Themajority of them are satisfied with maintaining the tightnessand effectiveness of a vacuum dressing and would use thesingle-use NPWT systems if they were more easily available andaffordable. It seems that the NPWT in the pilonidal disease isincreasingly used and this method is gaining popularity amongpractitioners.