[Anal fistulas: experience on 1 800 operated patients]

Considering their long experience acquired in 25 years in a specialist Hospital of Proctology and related to the treatment of 1800 patients suffering from anal fistulas, the authors reassess the problem of this affection from an etiopathogenic, classifying, diagnostic and therapeutic point of view.

Surgical treatment of Arnous's French School was performed; this method foresee a slow sphincteric sectioning by an elastic constriction, eventually with the division of the operative times.

Results were excellent, with 99.5% of complete recoveries and very few failures or complications: 0.3% of incomplete recovery, 0.2% of relapses, 2.6% of soiling and 1.4% of gas temporary incontinence.

The best premise to obtain the patient's recovery is to perform a faultless technique and to follow assiduously and minutely the postoperative period of surgical wounds.