Posted 10/24/2018 3:29 AM (GMT 0)
Hey all,
I would love to hear about people's experiences with anal fistula post surgery. In particular, how long did the external site drain for while it healed?
To cut a long story short, I had an advancement flap done almost 5 weeks ago. The first few weeks were a roller coaster, but the last week, maybe week and a half, the pain I have after my morning bowel movement is almost non existent. This is something I've not experienced for over a year, even with my draining seton! I'd sometimes go a day without pain, if I got lucky, and while the seton helped a lot, it still got uncomfortable following a visit to the bathroom.
However, the external fistula site is still draining. I don't know if it's pus or serous or slough, but it's watery pink and then sometimes a tiny bit slimey and yellow. Not nearly as thick as the drainage pre surgery, but a little similar. Also, I get yellow drainage from my anus thoughout the day. Not a lot - I could go a whole day with one piece of gauze if I wanted, but it's pretty regular. It's so hard to tell pus from drainage. People say pus stinks but I never really had a bad smell in my discharge pre surgery.
Again, my question is, how long did people drain for before it stopped? Even just small amounts? I read online that it's 4-6 weeks and if it keeps draining after that they consider it a failed operation? Yet my GP notes post surgery mention a 'large cavity' where the fistula ran through, and I also read on forums that it takes a long time to heal deep internal wounds from fistula, sometimes 4-5 months before drainage stops?
I would LOVE to hear people's experiences on this. I'm realistic enough to know that the flap may not have worked but if it hasn't I feel in myself that it has improved things 'down there', and hopefully it's a large step to getting rid of the fistula altogether.