Coping With Fistulotomy

Hi I’m a healthy 28 year old Male WITHOUT Crohns disease(I mention this because most forums on the net are patiets with Crohns disease.

I’ve had a fistula in ano for six months and went in for a Fistulotomy The surgery went well and I woke up with no pain.

Day One - As long as you are on a pain killer (Percocet or Tylenol 3’s) you should not feel too much pain during the day. I could lie down with no discomfort. I took two percocets 30 min before the nurse visited and took a shower. The changing the of the dressing was not as bad as you might think.

Day Two- Had my first bowl movement. Eat a lot of Fibre (ie. Fibre One Cereals/Fruit Shakes with Flaxseed). Take a bath with Epsom salt right after your bowl movement and wipe with baby wipes to keep clean. Did not hurt at all and it was a relief to empty my bowl. Constipation happens with the srong pain medication.

Nurse will visit for 7 - 10 days. The area is not prone to infection so as long as you keep clean you should be fine. Make sure the nurse washes her hands before she repacks the gauze.

If you have a good surgeon, the chance of reoccurence is less than 5%. Keep on a high fibre diet, keep the area clean, and stay on the pain killers. Also, you should take Sodium Docusate(Stool Softener). Also, they put in a seton because my fistula was close to my splinter muscle. The seton will come out by itself after a month.

You should be off work for two weeks if you can.