I've had terrible pain on and off for 18 months, finally saw a surgeon a few months ago who thought it was AF but wanted to do EUA to confirm. She said that surgical option was LIS (my health authority won't fund botox) but that had issues in terms of possible incontinence, particularly in women like me who have had vaginal deliveries.
I had the EUA yesterday. Before I went in, a different surgeon came and said did I consent to them doing whatever they thought best when they'd taken a look, and mentioned LIS. I was dubious about this, partly because of what first surgeon had said, and partly because my fissure is actually not that bad at the moment and seems to be healing. So they just did the EUA and confirmed an anterior AF.
Now I'm wondering if I should have taken the option of the LIS (if surgeons had thought it appropriate). My fissure isn't bad at the moment but has repeatedly healed and then broken down again over 18 months. Given that it will take me many many months to get back on the list should it break down again, perhaps I should have taken the option of LIS when it was offered. The problem is that the waiting list is so long, the chances are high that by the time your name comes up, you might well be in a healing phase and feel that it's better left well alone. A further complication is that I have an anterior AF (90% of fissures are posterior) and they're associated with a higher risk of hidden sphincter damage in women, and hence a higher risk of incontinence.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I feel that it's very likely I'm going to keep going through this cycle, so maybe I should have opted for LIS when it was offered.

Have you looked at the Botox option? Might be worth considering before the sphincterotomy.

I’ve had the latter op today! So far so good but pumped full of painkillers from op so will know more tomorrow, plus 1st post op poo to look forward to, I’m very regular and always go after breakfast, so should know this time tomorrow how much pain I have to look forward to!