Radical Excision Reduces Hidradenitis Suppurativa Recurrence

According to a study published in Frontiers in Surgery, radical excision of hidradenitis suppurativa shows the lowest recurrence rates among other treatment methods and negative pressure wound therapy reduces bacterial load and flora.

Researchers aimed to analyze the outcome of different treatment methods after radical excision of hidradenitis suppurativa in a retrospective, mono-center cohort study that included patients with a diagnosis of hidradenitis suppurativa needing surgical treatment. Treatment strategy was evaluated according to recurrence rate, and remission time. Bacterial quantity and identifications were also analyzed for primary and secondary reconstruction when combined with negative-pressure wound therapy.

A total of 23 patients had 44 affected anatomical sites. Of these, 15 patients were treated with negative-pressure wound therapy. The last wound swab of patients with multi-surgical procedures had lower bacterial load and flora than the first wound swab independent of negative-pressure wound therapy use. The lowest recurrence rate was demonstrated using radical excision combined with split-thickness skin grafts.

“Radical excision of hidradenitis suppurativa as gold standard for surgical treatment combined with negative-pressure wound therapy as multi-stage procedures ultimately reduced bacterial load and flora in our study,” concluded the study authors. “The use of split-thickness skin grafts showed the lowest recurrence rate,” they added.

Reference
Stumpfe MC, Horch RE, Arkudas A, et al. The value of negative-pressure wound therapy and flap surgery in hidradenitis suppurativa - a single center analysis of different treatment options. Front Surg. Published online June 28, 2022. doi:10.3389/fsurg.2022.867487