Content area
Full text
General surgeons frequently assess patients who complain of umbilical pain, tenderness, discharge, bleeding or an umbilical mass. The most likely causes of these symptoms include umbilical hernia, endometriosis, metastatic tumour and a congenital abnormality, but the differential diagnosis should also include pilonidal sinus disease of the umbilicus. This communication reviews my experience treating 5 patients for pilonidal sinus disease of the umbilicus between 1988 and 1998.
The patients
The patients ranged in age from 22 to 55 years. All were men (Table I). Of these, 2 were white, 2 were Hispanic and 1 was East Indian. All patients were symptomatic; the most common complaints were umbilical pain, drainage and bleeding. The duration of symptoms ranged from several days to 3 years. Some of the patients were...