Fistulas
Ok, can I just say something? Fistulas are disgusting. They make me shudder. There. Sorry, had to get that out of the way. I’ve had this condition in the course of my disease so I think I have the right to say it.
A fistula is a passageway from one organ in the body to another. Fistulas are fairly common in Crohn’s because the inflammation associated with the disease can cause tissue within the body to literally deteriorate or wear away.
If two organs are adjacent or pressing up against one another, the continued damage and re-healing of tissue can cause the two organs to fuse together, creating a fistula between them.
Fistulas can also be tunnel-like, and may form either from one internal organ to another or from an internal organ to the surface of the skin. For example, I had one fistula from an area of damaged large intestine that ran to my duodenum, the first portion of the small intestine just after the stomach.
In my particular case the fistula was remedied surgically, as I was already undergoing a resection and the doctor took care of both problems at once. But it is possible for a fistula to heal, so don’t be afraid that just because you have a fistula it automatically means you have to have surgery.
Comment from Mary Ann Dodson
Time: February 20, 2010, 10:52 pm
I have had crohn’s for over twenty years. I got a huge fistula not long after being diagnosed with crohn’s disease. It has never healed. Infact, It has gotten much worse through the years. I have actually had glue put in my rectum to aid in healing the fistulas, but it is not working. I’m going to talk to my doctor about the new drug Humira. I am so fed up with these fistulas. I don’t even like to go anywhere. Through dye test they found out that fistulas were connected to my vagina. I actually had feces going through my birth canal. Is that Yucky or what?