RT Book, Section
A1 Reichman, Eric F.
SR Print(0)
ID 57711622
T1 Chapter 109. Pilonidal Abscess or Cyst Incision and Drainage
T2 Emergency Medicine Procedures, 2e
YR 2013
FD 2013
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-161352-1
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57711622
RD 2024/04/20
AB Controversy  surrounds  pilonidal  disease,  from  who  first  described  it,  to  the  etiology,  and  how  to  manage  it  surgically.  Some  believe  that  pilonidal  disease  was  first  described  in  1880  by  Hodges.1  However,  others  say  it  was  first  described  in  1833  by  Mayo.2  Hodges  used  the  term  “pilonidal  sinus”  to  describe  a  chronic  infection  that  contained  hair  and  was  usually  found  between  the  buttocks.  The  word  “pilonidal”  comes  from  “pilus”  or  hair  and  “nidus”  or  nest.  It  literally  means  “nest  of  hair.”  The  condition  did  not  receive  much  attention  until  it  became  a  significant  problem  in  the  armed  services  around  the  time  of  World  War  II.  In  1940,  in  the  United  States  Navy,  the  number  of  sick  days  caused  by  pilonidal  disease  and  its  complications  exceeded  those  of  either  syphilis  or  hernias.3  This  condition  was  coined  as  “jeep  disease”  by  Buie  in  1944  because  of  the  high  occurrence  rate  in  those  that  drove  or  were  frequent  passengers  in  military  vehicles.4