going under the blade on dec 4th to hopefully fix my fistula...anyone know how they operate on fistulas that only have one opening? he really didnt say anything bout that,mine just has an opening somewhere inside my rear? then leads to a channel to a tiny little pocket.will they cut at the top and go in,or find the opening thats somewhere inside,ive read different stories on the forum. i think my opening is near the fissure myself,he says he "wouldnt worry" about tearing that during the operation...huh...heard that before....

I don't know anything about that type operation, except in many cases they use a type of plug, and I have heard they have great success with it. I think BG knows more about the procedures (?) but it's still early out west, I am sure she'll be along later...

hmmm. That's a good question. I did some research last year when the drs were telling me that I might have a fistula on top of the absccess. It really depends on the type of fistula. If it is not too deep the dr usually lays open the channel so that there is no place for the bacteria to get caught. If it tracks between your internal and external sphincter, the drs. usually insert a seton which slowly cuts through the sphincter and lays open the infected channel.
There are other options though. One as I mentioned is the fistula plug, though this might be difficult to set in place if there is only one opening. Another, which sounds more appropriate for you, is fibrin glue. this is basically a bio-glue made from your won blood plasma. It's success rate is lower than traditional fisulotomy (laying open the track), but it seems like a far less painful option. basically, the dr cleans out the track with a bit of scraping and then squeezes in the glue and sews the opening shut. Take a look at this article http://archsurg.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/135/2/166.pdf. There are some video sites on the web, but you can google those if you're interested.
This is really the extent of my knowledge. The most important thing for the dr to do is make sure he finds all of the tracks and treats all of them. There may only be one opening, but the opening can have moer than one path. Most of the reoccurrencce of fistula is due to the dr not finding a track.

i think mine goes between the 2....though im no doctor and have limited experience in fistulas. a "seton" sounds like it sucks...anything cutting through anything down there cant be fun. hopefully he wont mess up my healed fissure in the process....thanks for the info!

Sure. My surgeon said he couldn't tell me for sure what I would need until he got in there--he couldn't say for sure whether it was "just and abscess" or a multi-tack fistula. I did my research for the worst case scenario. Let us know how things work out.