ArticleAnnals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches2024
Heterogeneity of Treatment Effects of Laser Epilation on Pilonidal Disease Recurrence: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Article in Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Outcomes of Pilonidal Surgery Performed in the Setting of Standard Adjunct Laser Hair Removal: A Retrospective Cohort Study.International wound journal · 2026Article
- Practice patterns of paediatric surgeons on treating pilonidal sinus disease - a national survey study.International journal of colorectal disease · 2025Article
- Pediatric pilonidal sinus disease: Recurrence rates of different age groups compared to adults.Surgery open science · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the heterogeneity of treatment effects (HTE) of laser epilation in preventing pilonidal disease recurrence through analysis of prespecified clinical factors. Background: Pilonidal disease is a common, painful disease affecting 1% of the population aged 15 to 30 years with postoperative recurrence rates as high as 30% to 40%. Methods: Single-institution randomized controlled trial from September 2017 to September 2022 with 1-year follow-up, including patients aged 11 to 21 years with pilonidal disease undergoing gluteal cleft laser epilation and standard care (improved hygiene and mechanical or chemical depilation) or standard care alone. Results: In total, 302 patients were enrolled with 151 randomized to each intervention. 1-year follow-up was available for 96 patients in the laser group and 134 in the standard care group. There were no significant differences in treatment effects based on sex, body mass index, previous disease, prior surgical excision, or annual household income (all Conclusions: The effectiveness of laser epilation to reduce pilonidal disease recurrence rates may vary based on race and ethnicity and insurance type. Additional studies are warranted to investigate this potential HTE.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.