The Effect of Body Mass Index on Relapse of Pilonidal Sinus Disease in Adult Patients

Background: Pilonidal disease occurs either as a secreting sinus or in the form of an acute abscess in the coccygeal area and is an underlying cyst associated with granulomatous and fibrosis tissue which commonly contains heaps of hair, for which inherited and acquisitive hypotheses are proposed. Body mass index (BMI) is the objective indicator of obesity according to height and weight. This study aims to examine the relationship between BMI and the role of obesity in development and relapse of pilonidal cyst disease. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study examined 126 patients with primary or recurrent pilonidal sinus within a year. A separate questionnaire was formed and recorded in the computer for each patient based on the disease type and body mass index. Results: One hundred out of 126 studied patients (79.4%) underwent primary Pilonidal Sinus surgery and 26 patients (20.6) had recurrent Pilonidal sinus surgery. 36 patients (28.6) were female and 90 patients (71.4%) were male. Among patients with recurrent Pilonidal sinus, 18 patients (69.2%) had BMI above 30 and 8 patients (30.8%) had BMI of 25 to 30 kg/m2. The patients whose BMI was estimated to be 20 to 25 or less than 20 kg/ m2 per square meter, had no recurrence of disease. Conclusion: In this study, high BMI was associated with relapse of pilonidal sinus disease. Supporting the previous studies, the incidence of disease in this study was also higher in young adults.