Endorectal mucosal advancement flap: the preferred method for complex cryptoglandular fistula-in-ano

To LIFT or to Flap? Which Surgery to Perform Following Seton Insertion for High Anal Fistula?

“…[7][8][9][18][19][20] Apart from being able to bring healthy and well-vascularized tissues to the "scarred" surgical field, the ERAF approach would have addressed the internal opening and, more importantly, the underlying anal gland, adequately. Despite this study being retrospective in nature, this is the first time that a comparative study has been performed between the LIFT and the ERAF techniques in such a highly selected group of patients.…”

Required length of follow‐up after transanal advancement flap repair of high transsphincteric fistulas

“…According to Golub et al. most failures were observed within the first weeks after flap repair [12]. It seems clear, however, that they described persistent fistulas rather then recurrent fistulas, because the actual recurrence rate after initial healing of the fistula was found to be only 3.28% at a mean follow‐up of 71 months.…”

Endorectal Advancement Flap

“…The most common complication appears to be bleeding. In a case series of 189 patients with mucosal fl aps by Aguilar et al [ 4 ], there were two cases of delayed bleeding; bleeding was also reported in 2 of 43 patients by Christoforidis et al [ 19 ], 1 of 167 patients by Golub et al [ 20 ], 1 of 48 patients by Muhlmann et al [ 12 ], and 1 of 31 patients by Joo et al [ 6 ].…”

“…There are also reports of urinary retention [ 21 ], including a 7.8 % rate of postoperative urinary retention by Golub et al [ 20 ]. For this reason it is reasonable to ensure patients can void before they are discharged from the recovery area, in order to avoid emergency room visits for urinary retention.…”