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Pilonidal sinus

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

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'Pilonidal' means a nest of hairs. A pilonidal sinus is a sinus that contains a tuft of hairs. These sinuses are commonly found in the skin covering the sacrum and coccyx but can occur between the fingers, particularly in barbers, and at the umbilicus.

A pilonidal sinus is not lined by skin and there are no hairs growing within it. In fact, the hairs in the sinus are short, broken pieces of hair that either get sucked into a pre-existing dimple or actually pierce the normal skin in the gluteal cleft and then, by acting as foreign bodies, aid and support the development of chronic infection. The result is a chronic abscess which contains hair and which flares up at frequent intervals into an acute abscess.

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Reference

  1. Gil LA, Deans KJ, Minneci PC. Management of pilonidal disease: a review. JAMA Surg. 2023 Aug 1;158(8):875-83.

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The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

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