I'm going in tomorrow to have surgery to get a fistula plug inserted. I know the failure rate is high, but I'm just wondering if anyone on the site has had one that's worked?

I had one and it fell out after a week. But luckily the fistula still healed. Just try not to strain to much when going to the bathroom. I'm pretty sure that's how I lost mine.

Best of luck in your fistula healing!

Scott

Well, I went into the hospital last Thursday for a fistula plug and came home with a seton drain. Ugh. The abscess I had was still there so they have put the drain in to clear it up before they'll do the plug. No idea how long this will be here for. Any tips with dealing with seton drain? It's not very pleasant so far.

Elaine, I feel for you. I had two setons in for about 4 months and the first few weeks were so painful. Try sitz baths (as hot as you can stand them) and taking an NSAID like Advil to ease the swelling. Those actually worked better for me than all of the painkillers they were prescribing.

Also try sitting on a heating pad. When my skin around the seton would get irritated I would put A + D ointment on (the generic kind is just as good) and would clean the area as well as possible in the shower everyday to avoid more irritations. I also used baby powder to keep the area dry.

Hope this seton discomfort will go away soon!!!
Scott

Another question.........did you guys work while all this seton/plug stuff is going on? I work sitting at a computer all day long and right now I can't imagine doing that for 8 hours with this drain........Physically I feel fine but emotionally/mentally I'm a mess. I'm crying at the drop of a hat and I'm not sure if I'll be able to concentrate.

I did work through all this. I was able to sit comfortable at work b/c I bought one of those water inner tubes for kids. It was wide enough so I could postion the setons in the hole of the tube and take alot of pressure off my bottom, I would also use a heating pad throughout the day at work. The real problem I had was drainage at work so I had to wear Depend (adult diapers) they weren't too bulky so no one at work knew I was wearing them.

Scott

I read a lot of posts about people having fistulas on this site but don't understand what causes them. Is this something that is specific to people with crohns or do those of with j-pouches and UC have a chance of getting them as well? If so what causes them?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: curious,

I'm pretty sure the perianal (sp?) fistulas are crohns specific. I know people that developed fistulas due to crohns and have not had j-pouch surgery. But females can get r/v (rectal-vaginal) fistulas not related to crohns. I think r/v fistulas are more due to the pressure on the vagina from the pouch.

Scott

OK - thanks for clearing that up for me Scott.