Treatment

The current requirements of evidence-based medicine find little support in the existing literature on the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). Very few randomized controlled trials have been performed, and where this has happened the trials are small with a weak predictive value. The existing literature is mostly based on cases and case series, and in an effort to strengthen these we have asked for expert evaluations in the previous chapters of this book. This should however not stimulate therapeutic nihilism! Expert assessment combines anecdotal evidence and personal experience to suggest possible approaches to therapy, but this needs to be supplemented with formal structured studies. Nevertheless, it is possible to suggest a strategy for the treatment of HS based on existing knowledge.