Reconstructive surgical treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa with a 6-month follow-up

Postepy Dermatol Alergol. 2023 Apr;40(2):268-272. doi: 10.5114/ada.2023.126325. Epub 2023 Mar 30.

Abstract

Introduction: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic skin disease that significantly reduces the quality of life of patients, especially affecting the intimate areas. Surgical treatment is one of the tools available for treating HS, which can significantly improve patients' quality of life.

Aim: To evaluate the surgical treatment of 31 patients treated surgically at the Centre for Burns Treatment in Sie-mianowice Śląskie, with a follow-up of 6 months.

Material and methods: Thirty-one HS patients were operated on with classical reconstructive methods. The patients were followed up for 6 months in the outpatient clinic. We gathered clinical data of 31 post-operative patients and statistical analysis was performed.

Results: 83.87% of the patients were completely healed. The study showed that HS recurrence in the surgical site occurred in 1 (3.23%) patient only after 6 months of follow-up. We found a statistically significant (p < 0.050) positive correlation between patients' age and body mass index (BMI), disease duration and time of diagnosis. BMI value additionally correlated with disease duration and time of diagnosis, while disease duration correlated with time of diagnosis.

Conclusions: Surgical treatment is an effective method in HS. The relatively low recurrence rate after 6 months and, in most patients, full healing, support the good therapeutic effect of surgical treatment.

Keywords: hidradenitis suppurativa; reconstructive surgery; skin flaps; split thickness skin graft; surgical treatment.