Coccygodynia and Coccygectomy

Abstract

Objective: A review of the literature on coccygectomy and our patients was performed to assess the effectiveness of coccy-gectomy for chronic refractory coccygodynia. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and performed telephone questionnaire on 61 patients who underwent coccygectomy at UCDMC between 1997 and 2009. Results: There were 28 case series from 1980 to 2012 for a total of 742 patients who underwent coccygectomy following failed conservative management. The mean age ranged from 26.4 to 52.8 years. The most common cause was direct trauma (58.5%) with a male:female ratio of 1:5.2. Most patients (84%) had a good to excellent outcome after coccygectomy. The most common complication is wound infection (10.0%). The overall complication rate was 13.3%. Similarly, 84.6% of patients from our own surgical case series reported good to excellent outcomes with 11.5% wound infection. Conclusion: Coccygectomy is an effective treatment for chronic refractory coccygodynia. The surgery isrelatively simple to perform but precaution must be taken to avoid wound infection.