Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Oct 27, 2026; 18(10): 123763
Published online Oct 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.123763
Published online Oct 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.123763
Timing of ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract after loose seton drainage in complex anal fistulas
Akay Edizsoy, Department of General Surgery/Surgical Oncology, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Efeler 09100, Aydın, Türkiye
Narmin Tahirli, Pars Tunçyürek, Department of General Surgery, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Efeler 09100, Aydın, Türkiye
Ahmet Tanyeri, Department of Radiology, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Efeler 09100, Aydın, Türkiye
Author contributions: Edizsoy A and Tunçyürek P designed the study; Edizsoy A, Tahirli N, and Tanyeri A collected the data; Edizsoy A, Tanyeri A, and Tunçyürek P performed the analyses; Edizsoy A drafted and wrote the manuscript; Tunçyürek P critically revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final version.
AI contribution statement: Portions of this manuscript were edited using AI tools solely for language refinement. The authors carefully reviewed and verified all AI-assisted outputs and take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This retrospective study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Aydın Adnan Menderes University, No. 2025/348.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from each patient.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Akay Edizsoy, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of General Surgery/Surgical Oncology, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Zafer Mahallesi, Efeler 09100, Aydın, Türkiye. akayedizsoy@yahoo.com
Received: May 28, 2026
Revised: June 30, 2026
Accepted: July 16, 2026
Published online: October 27, 2026
Processing time: 134 Days and 9 Hours
Revised: June 30, 2026
Accepted: July 16, 2026
Published online: October 27, 2026
Processing time: 134 Days and 9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study suggests that timing of the ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract surgical procedure after loose seton drainage may be clinically relevant in selected patients with complex anal fistulas. Interval magnetic resonance imaging may help identify persistent inflammatory cavities that warrant postponement of definitive surgery. However, due to the overall small sample size and baseline differences observed between the groups evaluated in this study, no conclusions can be drawn regarding the superiority of delayed vs standard-timing ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract.