recto-vaginal fistula

Unfortunately, I've had the guys version of this. I had a fistual joining my bowel to my bladder and to my stomach. When I went for a pee I would have gas and small particle of waste in my urine. Its just about the most horrible thing I've experienced with Crohns and I also had waste coming out from the fistual opening on my stomach.

I was sent for a CAT scan which confirmed what I already knew. My bowel was in a bad way by that point so I had surgery to remove the fistula and part of bowle surrounding it. I have not had any problems since then.

I've also had other fistuals which they used flagyl to treat but this did not work and had surgery to remove them as well. I think I would be right in saying that people have been put on infliximab to treat fistulas.

If you have any other questions please ask. Good luck!

thanks for your replies guys! Scott, glad it was successful for you :) Bev, i hope it works out soon. i had bad symptoms in the first 3 mons post op, but stragely in the last 2 weeks it all of a sudden stopped, so im thinking maybe not to do anything about it for now, cuz it seems my fistula has calmed down. maybe it's a small one? i think i'll wait and see, and as long as it doesn't come back, i won't do anyting.

thanks so much dear Cece! boy i'm glad you don't have it anymore, sounds like you had a real nasty one.. i'm not sure what to do, cuz lately i hardly feel any symptoms, so i'm thinking maybe it's best not doing even any tests, cuz it seems to me like all these test and protruding into our bodies only make things worse. so i don't know, i think i'll leave it alone and see how it goes. i don't have stools in my rectum any more anyway, so maybe it'll be ok..?

well i have one and i have an ileo but i still experience odor and don't know what to do about it, its really effecting me mentally and emotionally

     I had both my colon and rectum removed but the surgeon left the anus intact.   The day I came home from the hospital I felt like I had to urinate.  When I went to the bathroom all this horrible smelling gunk came out of my vagina.  I thought my bag had broken because that is what it looked like.  Ever since then I have had leakage.  At first, it looked like blood but it was more pink looking, sort of like the drainage that was in the JP tube.  That went away after a stint on antibiotics but I still had mucus.  My surgeon tells me it is coming out my anus but I know my anus from my vagina.

     In September my surgeon removed a hematoma from my anus and drained it..wow, did that ever hurt.  Well, I think it is back.  He sent me for a CT scan of the pelvic area back in September to rule out blood build up.  If it were a fistula, wouldn't it show up on the CT scan?  This is sooo annoying.  I went back on the Flagyl and have an appointment with my surgeon this coming Tuesday.  Mucus is still coming out but not as much.  I can feel something just is not right in the anus.

Hodaya is right. They are very hard to detect, since they can be so tiny, yet cause so much trouble!

The one thing that seemed to help mine for a while was Remicade. But, my body developed antibodies against it after a few years, and it stopped working. Once that happened, the Crohn's flared up with a vengeance and the r/v fistula came back, causing an abscess on my butt cheek.

That was the start of my many surgeries, first to drain the abscess, then to get a temporary ileostomy, and then to have my colon, rectum, and anus removed (proctocolectomy). In hindsight, it was the best thing that could have happened, because now I'm completely healthy.

Christine, I'm so sorry you're continuing to have drainage. Would you be open to having your anus removed? I think it would solve your problems down there.

((Big Hug))
Cecilia