Epidemiological profile of patients with fistula in ano

Abstract

Abstract Rationale There is a lack of consistent national data on the evaluation of the epidemiological profile of patients with anal fistula. Objective To evaluate the epidemiological profile of patients with anal fistula at a center specialized in coloproctology. Method A cross-sectional, retrospective study was carried out between 2016 and 2018 of patients who underwent surgical procedures for the treatment of fistula in ano by the Department of Coloproctology of the Regional Hospital of Mato Grosso do Sul. Age, gender, disease duration, number of procedures, association with Crohn's disease and other comorbidities were evaluated. The data were tabulated and submitted to statistical treatment considering p < 0.05. Results 93.2% of the patients were less than 60 years old, 66.7% were male, 88.9% had the disease less than one year, the most frequent procedures were fistulotomy (55.6%) and fistulectomy (36.8%), with a greater percentage of patients having undergone only one procedure (74.4%), 8.5% had Crohn’s disease, 7.7% systemic hypertension and 3.4% had diabetes mellitus. Conclusion In the studied group, there was a predominance of anal fistulae in men under 60 years old and without comorbidities, diagnosed for up to one year, most of them submitted to fistulotomy or fistulectomy at one time. Patients operated after one year of illness and also those with Crohn’s disease were submitted mainly to curettage + seton and multiple procedures.