Loose combined cutting seton for patients with high intersphincteric fistula: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Achieving a complete cure while maintaining continence constitutes a considerable challenge in the treatment of patients with high anal fistula. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of loose combined cutting seton (LCCS) for treating patients with high intersphincteric fistula. METHODS: Consecutive patients with high intersphincteric fistula who underwent LCCS were retrospectively enrolled. Patient data including demographics, medical history, comorbidities, details of the fistula, operative procedure, and prognosis were collected. Postoperative pain was assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS), which ranged from 0 (no pain) to 10 (extremely severe pain). The severity of fecal incontinence was assessed using the Wexner Continence Grading Scale, with a total score ranging from 0 (no incontinence) to 20 (complete incontinence). The primary outcome was the healing rate of fistula. Secondary outcomes included the recurrence rate of fistula and the severity of fecal incontinence. RESULTS: The 22 patients (male: female =18:4) in our study had a median follow-up of 55 (range, 32–568) days. The healing rate was 100%, and none of the patients experienced fistula recurrence. At the follow-up visit, 19 patients (86.4%) reported no fecal incontinence. The median total Wexner score was 0. 95.5% patients had VAS score of 0 and only 1 patient (4.5%) had a VAS score of 1, which indicated a low level of postoperative pain. CONCLUSIONS: LCCS achieved a high healing rate with an increased level of continence, as well as a low level of postoperative pain, in most patients with high anal fistula in our study. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the effectiveness of this novel seton-based technique.