**3. Traditional surgical techniques: fistulotomy, fistulectomy, seton placement**

When talking about traditional techniques in anal fistula treatment we refer to fistulotomy, fistulectomy or techniques with seton placement in the anal fistula canal. Even since Hippocrates, there have been advices and different references on how one should treat anal fistula [27]. Traditional techniques were used in the treatment of anal fistula during history, before the development of sphincter preserving techniques.

Fistulotomy as the oldest, simplest and most widely performed procedure in anal fistula treatment has its benefits and drawbacks. This procedure, with its synonym "lay open technique," is quite a simple procedure in which the surgeon, after insertion of the metal probe, cuts (or lays open) the whole of fistula tract from the internal fistula opening which is located in the anal canal to the external opening situated on the perianal skin. Following this, the surgeon performs curettement of granulation tissue from the fistula tract remnant making, in a sense, an acute wound that should heal by secondary intention. Some surgeons perform additional marsupialization of wound edges the following fistulotomy to reduce postoperative bleeding and to speed up wound healing (**Figure 3**) [28].

In this way, crucial postulates in anal fistula treatment are satisfied, except the preservation of anal sphincter complex to a lesser degree. Even though this procedure has a success rate of more than 90%, it is also associated with some type of postoperative continence disturbance in cases when the fistula tract crosses through deeper parts of the anal sphincter complex and when the internal fistula opening is placed more proximally in the anal canal. The incontinence rate following these procedures vary given the heterogeneity of anal fistulas, but can be up to 28% [4, 29].

In recent times, according to Garg's classification, this technique should be only reserved for treatment of type 1 and 2 anal fistulae without risk of continence disturbance, meaning low intersphincteric and low transsphincteric fistula (simple anal fistula) [30].

Fistulectomy is performed by excising the whole of fistula tract, removing in that way the whole fistula tract from external fistula opening to internal fistula opening, without preservation of anal sphincter complex. In a meta-analysis that included

**Figure 3.** *Fistulotomy with marsupialization (shown by red arrows).*

565 patients comparing fistulectomy and fistulotomy for low anal fistulas, there has been no conclusive evidence as to which procedure is better in simple anal fistula treatment [31].

Failure of treatment with fistulotomy of fistulectomy and recurrence is associated with inappropriate selection of patients with high anal fistulas or those with multiple tracts.

The seton placement technique distinguishes between "cutting" and "loose" seton.

Cutting seton technique is nowadays almost abandoned but was used to convert high anal fistula to low one which was later treated by lay open technique. Seton was made of unabsorbable material, placed through the anal fistula canal and then tightened enabling in that way slow cutting of the sphincter mechanism leaving behind a scar. The idea behind the technique was that it would prevent anal sphincter muscle to split and, in that way, to prevent serious problems with continence disturbance. It was proven however, that this technique has a high incidence of continence disturbance with high morbidity and recurrence rates [5].

When talking about the role of loose seton the situation is somewhat different. Loose seton should be placed through the fistula tract without tightening, helping in that way to reduce sepsis and to mature the fistula tract. This would be the first stage in resolving of anal fistula problem. Many surgeons advocate loose seton placement as an important step of rectal advancement flap procedure or LIFT (ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract) prior to that operation, even though there has not been clear clinical evidence [32, 33]. Seton placement before fistulotomy with sphincter reconstruction has shown its benefits in fistula treatment, namely in converting high transsphincteric to low transsphincteric fistula and also in the acute abscess stage before this procedure to reduce the risk of breakdown of sphincter repair [34].
