How to treat anal fistula?

Anal fistula is a disease. In the early stages of the disease, the anal valve will become infected and inflamed, as well as inflammation around the anus. It will then spread and form anorectal inflammation. If not treated in time, suppuration will occur. Therefore, it is recommended that you undergo an anoscopy. If you find that there is secretion that cannot be discharged, you can use a silver round head to go deep into the anus to take it out, or you can use a probe to check. However, when using your fingers, do not use force blindly.

(I) Anoscopy: The entire dentate line can be seen under direct vision. The internal opening is often red, swollen, and inflamed, and there is secretion. A silver round-tipped probe can be used to probe into suspicious anal crypts.

(B) Probe examination: First insert a finger into the anus, and use a silver round-tipped probe to gently probe from the external opening along the duct toward the intestinal cavity. For complete anal fistula, the finger can feel the probe near the tooth line in the intestinal cavity to determine the internal opening. When probing, be careful not to use blind force to avoid forming a false channel and spreading the infection.

(III) Staining examination: Place dry gauze into the rectum, slowly inject 1-2 ml of methylene blue from the external opening, then pull out the gauze. If there is staining, it proves that the internal opening exists.

(IV) Surgical examination: Cut open the fistula tract and search for the internal opening along the fistula tract, which is usually easy to find.

Phase 1

Anal crypts and anal valves become infected and inflamed. Initially, the inflammation is limited to a local area. If it is not treated in time, the inflammation can spread to the area around the anus.

Second stage

The inflammation starts from the local anal crypts and anal valves, gradually spreading and forming anorectal inflammation. If inflammation is not controlled, it may invade into tissue spaces with low disease resistance.

The third stage

As the disease resistance of the tissue spaces around the anorectum decreases, it becomes a place for pathogens to invade, spread, accumulate and multiply, causing the tissues here to be easily infected and inflamed, and the positive cannot overcome the negative, thus forming anorectal abscesses. If anorectal abscess is treated properly in the early stage, the abscess can often dissipate and heal without leaving any sequelae. If the early treatment is delayed or handled improperly, tissue necrosis and pus can spread through the local gaps, making the condition worse and more complicated.

The fourth stage

After the perianal abscess ruptures on its own or is treated with incision, drainage and dressing change, the abscess cavity gradually shrinks, but the abscess does not heal for a long time. At this time, the cavity wall has formed a hard tubular wall of connective tissue hyperplasia, and the gap left in the middle is the fistula. Pus often flows out from the fistula, causing repeated infection and recurrence, and cannot heal itself for a long time, thus forming a fistula.