Umbilical Pilonidal Sinus, a Lesser-Known and Underdiagnosed Clinical Condition

Case Presentation: A 46-year-old male patient presented to surgery OPD with a one-year history of intermittent, seropurulent bloody discharge from umbilicus along with pain, tenderness and bulge in the area.

On examination the patient had a hairy body .The umbilicus was everted with sero-haemorrhagic discharge from the sinus and the opening was covered with exudate. Both Laboratory and sonography findings did not yield any significant abnormality. Patient underwent umbilical excision showing sinus tract with bunch of hairs.

Discussion: Umbilical discharge in adult is rare but can be quite alarming.

Failure of conservative methods of hair extraction and appropriate personal hygiene leads to compounding of the problem being recurrent, which makes surgery as an inevitable option.

They have also found that incomplete hair extraction is the commonest cause for failure of conservative management. Proper instruction to the patients at the time of discharge can further reduce the recurrence

Conclusion: Umbilical Pilonidal Sinus could easily be misdiagnosed and mistreated due to its rarity and lack of awareness of the condition. Diagnosis is easy to establish with physical examination and a detailed history. Treatment of choice for chronic, recurrent, resistant, intermittent cases is surgical removal