My perianal abscess ruptured on its own in September and caused a fistula, which was diagnosed in December.
I had a surgical consult and the surgeon said that as long as it's draining continuously, there's no point in doing anything surgical with it.
He said that in his experience, if he tries to do too much with a fistula on a person who has Crohn's, he just creates more fistulas.
He also said the location of my fistula was too high. Because of all that, I got the impression that fistulotomy surgery hurts more than it helps.
He put in his report that my fistula was inoperable and because of that, my HMO finally allowed me to go on Remicade.
I've had only 2 infusions and my fistula is almost completely closed with maybe a drop of fluid drainage only every other day.
There is still a tiny lump, but it is fading fast.
Remicade is the best treatment for fistulas. My GI says that there are no studies which show Humira completely removing fistulas.
In addition, my brother is in school to become a surgical technician and his teacher has mentioned to him a new procedure for removing fistulas, one which is similar to the way doctors remove varicose veins. I forget the name, but it's a treatment that sounds pretty promising.