Modified anal fistula clip: A safe and effective alternative to incision and thread hanging for anal fistula

Table 1 Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, n (%)/mean ± SD

Characteristic	AFC (n = 35)	ITH (n = 35)	P value
Age (years)	35.00 ± 9.70	37.83 ± 11.16	0.30
Sex
Male	31 (88.6)	32 (91.4)	0.65
Female	4 (11.4)	3 (8.6)
Fistula type
Transphincteric	23 (65.7)	22 (62.9)	0.98
Intersphincteric	12 (34.3)	13 (37.1)
Simple	21 (60.0)	21 (60.0)	0.76
Complex	14 (40.0)	14 (40.0)
Disease duration (months)	6.0 ± 5.1	8.2 ± 10.2	0.81

AFC: Anal fistula clip; ITH: Incision and thread hanging.

Table 2 Comparison of resting visual analog scale pain scores between the anal fistula clip and incision and thread hanging groups at different postoperative time points

Group	n	Resting VAS pain score
		Day 1	Day 5	Day 28
AFC	35	3.18 ± 2.43	2.76 ± 2.47	0.63 ± 0.58
ITH	35	5.90 ± 1.31	4.50 ± 1.13	0.71 ± 1.24
Test statistic		Welch t = 5.84	Welch t = 3.76	t = 0.34
P value		< 0.001	< 0.001	0.73

AFC: Anal fistula clip; ITH: Incision and thread hanging; VAS: Visual analog score.

Table 3 Comparison of primary endpoints, including postoperative complications and wound healing time, between the anal fistula clip and incision and thread hanging groups, n (%)

Complications	AFC (n = 35)	ITH (n = 35)	Analysis	P value
Total healed	33 (94.3)	32 (91.4)	Fisher’s exact test	0.63
Any complications	0 (0.0)	4 (11.4)	Fisher’s exact test	0.02
Bleeding	0	1 (2.86)	-	-
Edema	0	1 (2.86)	-	-
Stenosis	0	2 (5.71)	-	-
Healing time (days)	26.0 ± 2.5	34.5 ± 3.1	Welch t-test	< 0.001

AFC: Anal fistula clip; ITH: Incision and thread hanging.