How effective is hidradenitis surgery for hidradenitis suppurativa?

Hidradenitis suppurativa causes painful, recurring lumps and abscesses that may form draining tunnels and scars, often in skin folds. Procedures vary: a clinician may drain an acute collection, open a tunnel to heal from the base, or remove a wider area of chronically affected skin. The choice depends on lesion depth, location, scarring, active inflammation, and how much healthy skin is available for healing. Surgery treats the selected area; it does not change the inflammatory tendency throughout the skin. Some people need medical treatment alongside a procedure to control activity and protect other sites.

Ask a dermatologist or surgical team to map active nodules, tunnels, and scars before choosing an operation. Discuss wound size, whether it will be closed or left to heal gradually, dressing needs, movement restrictions, and how pain will be managed. Tell the team about smoking, diabetes, medicines, allergies, and previous problems with wound healing. Keep the area clean as instructed and avoid squeezing lesions. Do not apply unapproved creams inside a wound. The Hidradenitis Surgery page provides treatment-focused information to review with your clinician.

Get urgent medical help for rapidly spreading redness, severe or escalating pain, fever, confusion, or feeling faint. After surgery, contact the team about persistent bleeding, foul drainage, wound separation, new swelling, or redness that expands beyond the expected area. A new painful lump elsewhere also deserves review because it may represent active disease rather than a problem with the treated wound.

Which lesions or tunnels would this procedure treat? Is the disease active in nearby skin? Will I need medicines before or after surgery? How will the wound be dressed, and how long might daily care take? What symptoms should trigger an urgent call?