A single-disease focus and the cleft lift procedure give patients a path out of chronic pain and repeated surgery
Pilonidal disease often starts as a small cyst near the tailbone and turns into years of pain, drainage, and repeated trips to the operating room. Many patients undergo wide excision surgery that leaves an open wound to heal on its own, a method that can take months and still fails to prevent recurrence.
If you have been through one or more surgeries without lasting relief, you are not alone. The right procedure performed by the right surgeon can change that outcome.
A Gap in Specialized Care
Most patients with pilonidal disease see general surgeons or colorectal surgeons who treat the condition alongside dozens of others. That broad caseload leaves little room to develop the specific technique needed for a durable cure. The result is a pattern seen across the country: patients who recover from one surgery only to develop a new cyst, wound, or abscess months later.
Pilofix, founded by Dr. Samuil D. Rafailov, DO, FACS, was built to close that gap. The Stanhope, New Jersey practice is the only one in the Northeast dedicated exclusively to pilonidal disease. It draws patients from New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, and has a Hoboken location that serves the greater New York City area.
Fifteen Years of Focused Practice
Dr. Rafailov is a board-certified surgeon with more than 15 years of experience who now limits his practice entirely to pilonidal disease. His treatment range spans antibiotic management, pit-picking, and emergency drainage through advanced procedures such as the cleft lift, also known as the Bascom flap, and liposuction-assisted cleftoplasty.
About half of his patients arrive as salvage cases, meaning they have already had one or more failed surgeries elsewhere. For those patients, cleft lift surgery closes the natal cleft and moves the wound off of the midline, a change in anatomy that lowers the odds of the disease returning. At Pilonidal Fix, Dr. Rafailov performs more than 100 of these cases each year and reports cure and recurrence rates that significantly outpace outcomes tied to older, open-healing methods.
What Sets the Practice Apart
If you search for a New Jersey pilonidal surgeon, you will find general practices that list the condition among many services. Pilofix takes the opposite approach. Every consultation, whether in person or remote, goes directly through Dr. Rafailov, and the practice works with a range of insurance plans to reduce barriers to care. Patients receive clear post-operative instructions built around one condition rather than generic wound-care advice.
That focus has earned Pilofix more than 100 five-star reviews and a reputation as a pilonidal cleft lift specialist patients travel to see, even from outside the region.
Building on a Track Record
Dr. Rafailov said he wants Pilofix to become the most trusted name in pilonidal care nationally while keeping the practice small enough for direct surgeon access. Plans include expanding patient and clinician education, refining techniques like liposuction-assisted cleftoplasty, and potentially adding surgeons who share the same approach.
If you are searching for pilonidal disease treatment and want a cure rather than another temporary fix, Pilofix offers remote consultations to evaluate your case and outline a path forward with a pilonidal specialist in New Jersey. Pilonidal Fix has offices in Hoboken and Stanhope, NJ.