Surgical Management of Severe Hidradenitis Suppurativa in Women: Outcome and Quality of Life Assessment

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) or Acne inversa sometimes referred to as Verneuil’s disease, is a rare and debilitating condition arising in the intertriginous folds that bear apocrine glands (axillae, groin, perineum, pubis, ano-genital area). It has a deleterious impact on the life of affected persons who tend to be more depressive and poorly socially and sexually connected because of pain, malodor and stigmatization. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study in Henri Mondor Hospital in Créteil, France, in order to assess the effectiveness of surgery as a radical treatment and also assess the factors related to recurrence and the surgical and sexual satisfaction in women operated for severe HS of perineum and genitalia. Results: Fifty-five women were included. We got a recurrence rate of 23.6%. 66.7% of recurrence occurred after localized excision. 83% of patients were satisfied with surgery results and would undergo a revision surgery or recommend it. The factors significantly associated with recurrence were overweight (p = 0.0046), location in groin (p = 0.0040), localized excision (p = 0.02), total excision (p = 0.009), healing via secondary intention (p = 0.001) and disability due to HS (p = 0.006). Assessment of sexual response thanks to the FSFI showed an alteration of all the domains of sexual response but the composite index of 18.51 was below the threshold to diagnose pathologic sexual condition.