Hidradenitis suppurativa: a new, principle-centered paradigm for managing a dynamic disease

Abstract

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, debilitating skin condition that disproportionately affects socioeconomically underserved patients. Currently, treatment outcomes for patients with HS remain poor, largely because of a deficiency in current guidelines on exactly how and when to employ the myriad treatment tools, resulting in heterogeneous care models and confusion. Aggressive medical therapy is often started too late, pursued for too long whilst delaying procedural intervention, or skipped over altogether for procedures. Here, we propose a new, principle-centered management paradigm for HS that emphasizes the need for prompt intervention to minimize suffering and an understanding of how sinus tract development dictates the timing of medical and procedural interventions.

Keywords: hidradenitis suppurativa; medical commentary; treatment.