Citation Nr: 21005651 Decision Date: 02/02/21 Archive Date: 02/02/21 DOCKET NO. 18-43 957 DATE: February 2, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to rating in excess of 10 percent for residuals of a pilonidal cyst is remanded. Entitlement to a compensable rating for a pilonidal cyst scar is remanded. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for a painful and unstable pilonidal cyst scar is remanded. Entitlement to a temporary total rating under 38 C.F.R. § 4.30 for convalescence following December 5, 2014, pilonidal cyst drainage is remanded. Entitlement to a temporary total rating under 38 C.F.R. § 4.30 for convalescence following March 10, 2014, pilonidal cyst drainage is remanded. Entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) based on housebound status, other than from August 16, 2016, to November 1, 2016, is remanded. Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability is remanded.   REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from June 2003 to March 2007. In an October 2019 decision, the Board denied these claims. The Veteran appealed that decision to the higher United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Veterans Court/CAVC). In an August 2020 Order, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR), vacating the portion of the Board’s decision that had denied these claims and remanding them back to the Board for readjudication pursuant to agreement in the JMPR. Because more development is required before readjudicating these claims, the Board, in turn, is remanding them back to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). 1. Entitlement to rating in excess of 10 percent for residuals of a pilonidal cyst is remanded. 2. Entitlement to a compensable rating for a pilonidal cyst scar is remanded. 3. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for a painful and unstable pilonidal cyst scar is remanded. 4. Entitlement to a temporary total rating under 38 C.F.R. § 4.30 for convalescence following December 5, 2014, pilonidal cyst drainage is remanded. 5. Entitlement to a temporary total rating under 38 C.F.R. § 4.30 for convalescence following March 10, 2014, pilonidal cyst drainage is remanded. 6. Entitlement to SMC based upon housebound status, other than from August 16, 2016, to November 1, 2016 is remanded.   The JMPR, in part, cites the Board’s failure to provide an adequate statement of its reasons and bases for how the Veteran’s recurring pilonidal cyst and consequent scars are rated under individual diagnostic codes (DCs) evaluating them. He has not had a VA compensation examination for his pilonidal cyst since April 2007, so for many years, even though much has changed regarding this recurring disability, including several drainages – two of which are at issue in this appeal that he had in March and December 2014 that he contends deserve temporary 100 percent ratings owing to convalescence as contemplated by 38 C.F.R. § 4.30. The JMPR also agreed the Board did not provide an adequate statement of reasons or bases for denying these latter § 4.30 convalescent rating claims and, moreover, that the claim for SMC based on being housebound is “inextricably intertwined”. The Board consequently is directing reexamination of the Veteran to reassess the severity of his recurring pilonidal cyst and consequent scars, including from the several drainages. 7. Entitlement to a TDIU also is remanded. This TDIU claim is partly derivative of the other claims at issue in this appeal, therefore also “inextricably intertwined”, even accepting that the JMPR cited, instead, the Board’s failure to address potentially favorable evidence dated in March 2017 concerning this claim in relation, instead, to another service-connected disability (sleep apnea). Accordingly, all these claims are REMANDED for the following action: a) schedule the Veteran for a VA examination by an appropriate clinician to determine all manifestations (and consequent functional impact) of his recurring pilonidal cyst and consequent scars. To this end, the examiner is specifically asked to quantify the number of scars the Veteran has owing to his recurring pilonidal cyst – whether from prior drainages or whatever reason, and assess whether they are painful, tender or unstable and their relative size. b) The examiner is also asked to review the relevant evidence in the file and opine on whether the Veteran’s pilonidal cyst drainage procedures in March 2014 and December 2014 resulted in or required (1) at least one month of post-operative convalescence; (2) post-operative residuals such as incomplete healed surgical wounds, therapeutic immobilization of one major joint or more, application of a body cast, the necessity for house confinement, or the necessity for continued use of a wheelchair or crutches (regular weight-bearing prohibited); or, (3) immobilization by cast, without surgery, of one major joint or more. 38 C.F.R. § 4.30(a). If the procedures resulted in any of the above the examiner is asked to approximate how long those periods lasted.   c) Similarly, for an additional pilonidal cyst drainage in August 2016, the examiner is asked to comment on whether the 3-month convalescence granted following that additional drainage was appropriately terminated as of November 1, 2016. KEITH W. ALLEN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Baronofsky The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.