Postoperative care and diet after anal fistula surgery

Fistula is a pathological tube connecting hollow organs with the body surface, or between hollow organs, usually with more than two openings. Fistulas are divided into: nephrostomy tube, lingual fistula, thyroglossal fistula, anal fistula, congenital preauricular fistula, oral and maxillofacial cervical fistula, etc. So how should we care after anal fistula surgery? Let's take a look at the postoperative care methods for anal fistula surgery

Postoperative Care

Postoperative treatment of anal fistula is very important. It can even be said that the quality of postoperative treatment has a direct impact on the outcome of the operation. Generally speaking, the Vaseline gauze and other filling gauze in the wound should be removed 24 hours after the operation. If the wound is deep and large, it can be removed after 48 hours. If the patient has a bowel movement, the affected area should be treated with a sitz bath and the dressing should be changed after defecation. Once a day until the wound is completely healed. At the same time, check the condition of the wound to avoid external wound adhesion, early healing, and the formation of new fistulas. The external granulation tissue that grows faster should be cut frequently, the external tissue that has healed prematurely should be removed early, and the external drainage port should be enlarged to ensure smooth drainage.

In the early stage after anal fistula surgery, the dressing must be changed every day. It can be said that the importance of dressing change after anal fistula surgery is no less than, or even higher than, the importance of anal fistula surgery to some extent. Because the wound surface after anal fistula surgery is often open, the following effects can be achieved by changing the dressing after surgery:

1) Remove secretions and feces from the surgical wound to keep the wound clean and prevent contamination and infection;

2) The gauze inserted into the wound during dressing changes can not only facilitate drainage, but also protect the wound surface;

3) When changing the dressing, you can use some drugs that promote wound growth, such as Beifuji;

4) It is helpful to discover and treat unhealthy granulation tissue and promote wound healing;

5) By filling with gauze strips, it can be ensured that wound healing starts from the base and avoids bridge healing.

Postoperative diet

In the early stages of surgery, patients with anal fistula should eat soft, easily digestible food with little residue. On the one hand, postoperative consumption is high, bed rest time is long, and digestive function is reduced, so the burden on the digestive tract should be reduced as much as possible; on the other hand, rough, dry and hard feces should be avoided to irritate the postoperative wound and relieve pain. One week after surgery, you can increase the amount and variety of drinks you drink and increase your activities out of bed. In the later stage of wound recovery, you can eat more high-protein and nutritious foods, such as lean meat soup, pork ribs soup, black fish soup, ham soup, pigeon soup, fresh chicken soup, turtle soup, etc., to increase nutrition and supplement sufficient protein, which is beneficial to promote wound healing. At this time, eating some seaweed, kelp, etc. can add and supplement trace elements, which is also beneficial to the patient.

In the above article, we have learned in detail about the postoperative care methods and postoperative diet health of anal fistula surgery. I believe everyone has understood it well.