HELP!!! ***I really need to find a colorectal surgeon experienced with doing LIFT procedures somewhere around San Francisco/Bay Area.


Please post or send me a PM if you know of any CRS surgeons experienced with the LIFT procedure in San Francisco / Bay Area.


I am facing the need for a LIFT surgery for an anal fistula and am willing to travel if necessary to get this all behind me.
I don’t think my case is supposed to be complicated. So far, I have had a fistulotomy with seton placed about 4 weeks ago. My scar was maybe 4 inches long, but only about a 1/2 inch deep. It healed up well, but then in the middle a pin-hole developed and it is passing anal canal drainage and gas. This was really a downer that I couldn’t even get the wound to heal properly…makes me worry about the coming success of the LIFT procedure.

So, I am thinking the best thing to do is to re-open the wound tract and let it heal again. (These things do heal, don’t they?
Or am I just going to repeat the same problem?) And then in a second procedure (if the wound heals over correctly) do the LIFT procedure.

My current surgeon - who I think is a good colorectal surgeon - has done fewer than a handful of LIFT surgeries with mixed success.
He is suggesting going in to do both procedures together.
But, that just doesn’t sound wise from what I’ve read about trying to maximize the success rate of the LIFT procedure by minimizing activity, etc. All the activity of packing and cleaning the open wound would surely unnecessarily complicate the LIFT procedure healing.
Plus, the first time I had the wound cut, there was a ridiculous amount of bleeding (soaked through towels) – so, in case of a repeat of that, I would hate to risk a chance at a successful LIFT surgery.

Thank you to everyone contributing to this forum – it has been an invaluable resource in so many ways over the past few months.

It is nuts how so much valuable information needs to come together in this way to help people like us through the ordeal, and how little of this information is passed on by the medical establishments!

Hi Healthy,
Welcome here and I'm sorry I can't offer you any advice on CRS situation in San Francisco because I'm in the UK!
I am hoping that someone will jump in and give you some pointers - It could be worth posting this in the fissure section (as well as the Fistula) as that might grab a bit more attention for you?
Take a good read through here because I'm certain others have had the same procedure or similar experiences.
I don't blame for you taking the action you are especially since you have concerns over the procedure & your current CRS' success rates - I wish you all the very best in finding someone who helps you soon & Yes, Fistulas DO heal - Some are just a little trickier than others to deal with and do take a bit longer, but most people do end up resolving these issues - so just hang in there & stay strong :)

Hey there! I recently had the LIFT procedure done. I'm now 4 months post surgery and I'm *almost* fully healed. I still have a small open wound, with no depth - it literally needs to close over which is proving to be a bit of a challenge. When they did the LIFT - it was laid open as well. I actually had to have a huge surgical wound - they even had to keep me over night in the hospital given the size of the wound.

I can't help you with any San Fran recommendations as I'm located in Canada. I've talked to a few people about the LIFT and it's been a success for most people. One person had to have it done twice before it worked. I have yet to confirm that it worked for me, but from everything my doc has said so far it appears to have worked. She said that if it hadn't chances are I would have had an abscess by now.

Let me know if you have any specific questions - I'm happy to help.
Hang in there ...!