Coccygectomy in the Treatment of Chronic Coccydynia.

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article was to evaluate the results of patients operated for chronic coccydynia, and determine any factors that could affect outcomes. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Patients with coccydynia who do not respond to conservative treatment will often profit from coccygectomy. Studies of results and complications vary considerably and often report on a limited number of patients. Methods. A total of 184 patients were operated with coccygectomy in our department and followed-up with questionnaires after a minimum of 1 year post-operatively. Treatment results were compared to their preoperative state, and any complications or reoperations were recorded and analyzed. Results. A total of 171 patients (93%) responded to final follow-up. The overall success rate was 71%, defined by patients being either completely well or much better at final follow-up. Furthermore, 89% off all patients would have consented to the operation if they had known the outcome in advance. The rate of post-operative infections was reduced from 10% to 2% by increasing the duration of prophylactic postoperative antibiotics from 24 to 48 hours (P = 0.018). CONCLUSION: Coccygectomy, for patients where conservative measures have failed, seems to give acceptable levels of success and high levels of patient satisfaction. The main complication after this procedure is infection, and the risk can be somewhat reduced by using antibiotic prophylaxis for 48 hours after surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

The effect of injection therapy and operation of coccydynia on the schooling and physical activity of adolescent patients.

Pain while sitting is the most common complaint among patients with Coccydynia. In young patients this may seriously affect their schooling which usually involves long periods of sitting. We studied if this improved after either injection therapy or surgery. During a seven-year period 32 adolescents with a mean age of 15 (range: 11-17) years were treated in our department because of coccydynia. They were followed up with mailed questionnaires at a minimum of 12 months after treatment and 28 (88%) responded. Three were no longer attending school and were excluded. Of the remainder, 12 received only injection therapy while 13 were operated upon. Mean follow-up time was 36 (14-66) months. Eight reported absence from school during the month before treatment, but only one during the week before review (pÃ0.01). There was significant improvement in sitting during class and physical exercise at school and when engaging in general sports (pÃ0.01). We can not exclude that improvements would have occurred spontaneously, but this seems unlikely as symptoms had persisted for more than two years before treatment. We conclude that in juveniles, an additional benefit of treating coccydynia with corticosteroid injection or operative resection is that their ability to attend school and take part in sports improves significantly.

Resection of the coccyx as an outpatient procedure.

We wished to determine if coccygectomy as an outpatient procedure is a safe alternative to inpatient treatment. 68 patients were treated at our institution with coccygectomy as an outpatient procedure during a seven-year period. Out of these 61 (90%) responded to final follow-up questionnaires after a minimum of one year. We recorded satisfaction with the outpatient modality, and compared postoperative complications and long-term satisfaction with patients who had been operated as inpatients during the same period. Out of the 61 patients who responded to final follow up, 39 (64%) were satisfied with having the operation as an outpatient procedure. The patients who would have preferred overnight hospitalization generally felt that traveling home the same day was painful. There was significantly less pain on the journey home if the procedure had been performed under spinal anaesthesia. In terms of complications, there were 10% reoperations due to deep infection in the outpatient group, and 12% superficial wound infections treated with oral antibiotics. The corresponding numbers for the in-patient group were 8% and 14%. The long-term success rate was similar for both groups. 87% of outpatients and 89% of inpatients reported that they would have consented to the operation if they had known the result in advance. Coccygectomy as an outpatient procedure gives similar results to inpatient treatment and can be regarded as an acceptable alternative. Spinal anaesthesia reduces postoperative pain on the journey home.

Corticosteroid injection for coccydynia: a review of 241 patients.

AIMS: We aimed to establish the short- and long-term efficacy of corticosteroid injection for coccydynia, and to determine if betamethasone or triamcinolone has the best effect. METHODS: During 2009 to 2016, we treated 277 patients with chronic coccydynia with either one 6 mg betamethasone or one 20 mg triamcinolone cortisone injection. A susequent injection was given to 62 (26%) of the patients. All were reviewed three to four months after injection, and 241 replied to a questionnaire a mean of 36 months (12 to 88) after the last injection. No pain at the early review was considered early success. When the patient had not been subsequently operated on, and indicated on the questionnaire that they were either well or much better, it was considered a long-term success. RESULTS: At the three- to four-month review, 22 (9%) reported that they had no pain. The long-term success of one injection was 15% and rose to 29% after a second injection. Logistic regression tests showed that both early success (odds ratio (OR) 5.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1 to 14.4; p = 0.001) and late success (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.7 to 8.3; p = 0.001) was greater with triamcinolone than with betamethasone. Late success was greater for patients with symptoms for less than 12 months (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.4 to 6.7; p = 0.006). We saw no complications of the injections. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the effect of corticosteroid injection for coccygodynia is moderate, possibly because we used modest doses of the drugs. Even so, they seem worthwhile as they are easily and quickly performed, and complications are rare. If the choice is between injections of betamethasone or triamcinolone, the latter should be selected.Cite this article: Bone Joint Open 2020;1-11:709-714.

The treatment of coccydynia in adolescents: A case-control study.

AIMS: To determine if the results of treatment of adolescents with coccydynia are similar to those found in adults. Adult patients with coccydynia may benefit from injection therapy or operative treatment. There is little data evaluating treatment results in adolescents. We have treated adolescent patients similarly to adults and compared the outcomes. METHODS: Overall, 32 adolescents with coccydynia were treated at our institution during a seven-year period; 28 responded to final follow-up questionnaires after a minimum of one year, 14 had been treated with only injection therapy, and 14 had been operated with coccygectomy. We collected data with regards to pain while sitting, leaning forward, rising from a sitting position, during defecation, while walking or jogging, and while travelling in trains, planes, or automobiles. Pain at follow-up was registered on a numeric pain scale. Each adolescent was then matched to adult patients, and results compared in a case control fashion. The treatment was considered successful if respondents were either completely well or much better at final follow-up after one to seven years. RESULTS: Out of the 28 treated adolescents, 14 were regarded as successfully treated. Seven were somewhat better, and the remaining seven were unchanged. In the adult control group the corresponding number was 15 successfully treated, eight patients were somewhat better, and five were unchanged. Six of the 14 successfully treated adolescents had been operated. There were no significant differences between the groups in the various registered domains, or on numeric pain scale. CONCLUSION: Treatment results in adolescent patients seem similar to those in adults. The long-term success rate of injection therapy is low. In case of injection treatment failure, operation may be considered, also in adolescents.

Normal Preoperative Images Do Not Indicate a Poor Outcome of Surgery for Coccydynia.

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term outcomes after surgery for refractory coccygodynia in patients with normal imaging studies compared with patients where imaging shows an anomaly. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Patients with coccydynia who do not respond to conservative treatment will often profit from coccygectomy. Most surgeons employ plain radiographs or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in their preoperative work-up. These will often show anomalies, but in some cases they do not. We investigated whether these patients do less well than those with abnormal images. METHODS: We operated on 184 patients with coccydynia during a 7-year period and 171 (93%) responded to follow-up questionnaires after 37 (range: 12-85) months. Images of 33 patients were normal and 138 showed some coccygeal pathology. Surgery was considered to have been unsuccessful when respondents stated at review that they were somewhat better, unchanged, or worse. RESULTS: There were no clinically or statistically significant differences in outcome between the groups. Surgery was unsuccessful in 24% of patients with normal images and in 32% among those with abnormal images. The median pain scores (0-10) during the week before review were two (interquartile range [IQR]: 0-3) and one (IQR: 1-5) in the two groups respectively. Similar proportions in the two groups stated that they would not have consented to surgery if they had known the outcome in advance. CONCLUSION: Patients with severe coccydynia who have not responded to conservative treatment should not be denied surgery only because their radiographs or MRI studies look normal. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.