Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Feb;21(2):149-153.
doi: 10.1007/s10151-016-1571-y. Epub 2017 Jan 20.

Photodynamic therapy for the treatment of complex anal fistula

A Arroyo  1 , P Moya  2 , M A Rodríguez-Prieto  3 , M J Alcaide  4 , M M Aguilar  4 , M Bellón  4 , M T Pérez-Vázquez  2 , F Candela  4 , R Calpena  2
Affiliations

Photodynamic therapy for the treatment of complex anal fistula

A Arroyo et al. Tech Coloproctol. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a new procedure for the treatment of anal fistula. This preliminary study was designed to investigate the safety and effectiveness of this new technique in the treatment of anal fistula.

Methods: Ten patients were treated with PDT. Intralesional 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) 2% was directly injected into the fistula. The internal and external orifices were closed. After an incubation period of 2 h, the fistula was irradiated using an optical fibre connected to a red laser (MULTIDIODE 630 PDT, INTERmedic, Spain) operating at 1 W/cm for 3 min (180 Joules). Patient demographics, operation notes and complications were recorded.

Results: There were no complications. The average length of patient follow-up was 14.9 months (range 12-20 months). We could observe primary healing in eight patients (80%). Two patients (20%) showed persistence of suppuration after the operation. No patient reported incontinence postoperatively.

Conclusions: PDT is a potential sphincter-saving procedure that is safe, simple and minimally invasive and has a high success rate.

Keywords: Aminolevulinic acid; Anal fistula; Photodynamic therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. World J Gastroenterol. 2015 Jan 7;21(1):12-20 - PubMed
    1. Ann Surg. 2012 May;255 (5):935-9 - PubMed
    1. Dis Colon Rectum. 2014 Mar;57(3):360-4 - PubMed
    1. Int J Mol Sci. 2015 Sep 25;16(10):23259-78 - PubMed
    1. Colorectal Dis. 2014 Feb;16(2):110-5 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources