Surgical management of acne inversa

Objectives: to present our experience in the management of the disease and its outcome. patients and methods: the study was carried out from january 2006 to december 2010 at the departments of plastic & reconstructive surgery and dermatology, shaikh zayed hospital, lahore. twenty two patients underwent surgical excision results: twenty two patients were included in the study. the average age was 37 years (range 22-57 years). male to female ratio was 2.7: 1. average duration of disease was 6.6 years .more than one site was affected in sixteen patients. fifty two procedures were performed for the treatment of acne inversa. primary closure in 11 areas and split skin grafting in 41 sites were done. average hospital stay after surgery was 7 days (range 0-17 days). major complication with total graft loss was seen in one patient (2.3%) and minor complications with partial graft loss and wound dehiscence were seen in 7 patients (16.7%) that did not need further surgical intervention. no recurrence was seen during the follow up of these cases up to one year. conclusion: wide excision and immediate primary closure or wound coverage in properly selected patients can significantly reduce the morbidity of patients with acne inversa.