Enterocutaneous Fistulas: What do we do?

Lauren Tanner, MD, discusses diagnosis and the goals of management for enterocutaneous fistulas.

[barron]

I lost my Young Wife after she developed a Fistula after Colon Surgery for Adhesions. She lay in an Isolation ward for almost 3 Months and eventually developed Sepsis and Pulmonary Embolisms. I cannot stress enough how serious a Fistula is, and how difficult it is to treat. It tore my World apart and I pray that nobody ever has to endure what she went through. She was a Beautiful Person, and I miss her with my Entire Soul.

[shirleynandwa]

Been a victim after I had a cs 2yrs ago!! It was. Hell on earth! BT after much encouragement I agreed to a corrective surgery en I thank God en the webuye Hosp surgical team for giving me back my self esteem!! Thank you lord!

[justinaigwe]

Thank you so much

Nutritional Optimization is the sure goal

[sarahmujkanovic]

I am an ibd patient that has a harder form of Chron's and i had developed a perianal fistula and i had surgery so it went away but they realozed i had several fistulas in my stomach ( small intestines) and then i had a resection of all the fistulas and actual problems. After that i had a collection in my abdomen and they didnt know why it appeared there so i had my third surgery to remove the abscces. After that i was discharged home but after about 20 days i started to have problems with my op wound. Long story short it opened and nobody had realized that its a fistula and not just an infection. I literally lived with it for 8-9 months and i gained weight it didnt really stop me from living a normal lofe besides the cleaning and changing gauzes and sometimes pain but i felt fine. After they realized it was a fistula i had to go back to my surgeon that had operated me in the fisrt place which is a lot away from my home but i went. It was a fistula and he said that he will do a surgery where he is gonna drain it, clean and basically remove it. However i was discharged home after 10 days and everything was fine until like 5th day after i was discharged like some redish liquid started to some out of my wound. We went for a check up where he opened the wound and said that it was a high chance that it is just an infection. However i knew that literally after 15 days od my operation i developed another fistula because i had gas coming out of it and when i would hold myself from going to the bathroom basically shit came out of the wound. I know. Ew. They didnt let me eat or drink for 11 days in hopes that it will close but itself but obviously it didnt so i went under another surgery and this time he had to do a resection then cleaned up the fistula and canal and then closed me. Right now i am in hospital recovering from the surgery and i am hoping that this time it is really gone. I wanted just to share my story because its been really hard. Forgot to mention it all happened from may 2021 til this day. And im only 16 years old.

[avianphlu]

I have a very low output fistula post operative to an Ileal Rectal anastomosis at one of midline laproscopic wound openings. Happened about 12 days post operative. Since NPO and TPN therapy with IV antibiotics I am home on low impact diet therapy with lower left quadrant drain measuring flushes of saline in and out. 30 cc in and 30 cc out. Fistula output is barely measurable but still out gases a bit. Dr follow up in 4 days. Albany Medical Center.

[josephossai]

Nice presentation, but in high output fistula, if surgery is delayed for 3 months or more, won't the patient get wasted and probably die before surgery is performed?

[whisperingsage]

My doc couldn't smile or relax with me until 4.5 months in the hospital when she was pretty sure I was going to live. This video could use better more graphic pictures, I don't think the speaker had actual experience with this. She was kind of a rote speaker parroting some papers.

[whisperingsage]

Well that wasn't very encouraging.