Hi Guys! i never knew such a forum like this existed. i'm so glad i stumbled upon this.
i had my first pain-in-the-arse (literally) experience around 7 or 8 years ago. it was a perirectal abscess. i had it drained by a General Surgeon and everything went fairly well until last year.
after jogging, i noticed that the scar on my previous incision and drainage started to bulge and resemble a hemorrhoid. it was quite uncomfortable sitting down, but i ignored it thinking that it would just go away after a couple of days.
one day, the "hemorrhoid" popped. a lot of blood and plasma came out. after several days, it healed. but, after about a week, it accumulated pus. the pus then drained, and the wound closed up again after several days. this went on for about a month after which i consulted a doctor friend of mine on what was happening to my bum. he said i had a fistula and further advised me that it can only be cured through surgery.
well to cut the long story short, i scheduled a for a fistulotomy with a general surgeon. unfortunately, she (the surgeon) didn't find any internal opening. she just cleaned the tract formed, and packed the wound. the wound did heal but after about a month, but it popped again and bled. i've had several incision and drainage procedures done but the wound would always pop after a month. it was after about 5 months and heavy scarring, i eventually consulted a colorectal surgeon.
the CRS did find a small internal opening and performed a LIFT Technique (Ligation of Intersphincteric Fistula Tract). he said that this relatively new procedure minimizes scarring and is also good for complex and high fistulas (information about this technique is available in the internet).
i'm on my 3rd post-op day, and i'm still recovering. although it has just been a couple of days, i feel that this procedure has been the most helpful in terms of getting rid of my fistula.
i do hope that this post will shed some hope to others who have the same problem which i had.
don't despair. take care everyone!