title: [Surgical treatment of anal fistulas. Personal experience on 1,000 patients over a 20-year period].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Considering their long experience acquired during the period October 1981 and October 2001 related to the treatment of 1,000 patients suffering from anal fistulas, the authors reasses the problem of this affection from an etiopathogenic, classifying, diagnostic and therapeutic point of view.
  
  
  METHODS
  Surgical treatment of Arnous's French School was performed; these methods foresee the division of the operative times and slow sphincteric sectioning by an elastic constriction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results were excellent: 99.2% of complete recoveries and very few failures and complications: 0.5% incomplete recovery, 0.3% relapse, 1.3% soiling, 1.5% gas temporary incontinence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The main premise to obtain the patient's recovery is to perform a faultless technique and to follow assiduously and minutely the long postoperative period of surgical wounds.
authors.affiliation: U.O. Semplice di Proctologia Chirurgica, Azienda Ospedaliera S. Martino e Cliniche Universitarie Convenzionate, Genova, Italy. mg57@virgilio.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rebesco
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Torelli
mesh_terms: D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012003:Rectal Fistula / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013536:Suture Techniques; D016896:Treatment Outcome
vernacular_title: Trattamento chirurgico delle fistole anali. Nostra esperienza relativa a 1.000 pazienti operati in 20 anni.