Operative considerations for rectovaginal fistulas

Table 1 Reported outcomes with various rectovaginal fistula repairs

	Published number of cases	Success rate	Complications	Fistula anatomy
Advancement flaps	515[10,11]	68%	Incontinence, Recurrence, Larger Fistula	Low
Transperineal/sphincteroplasty	72[12,13]	64%-100%	Incontinence, Sexual dysfunction, Wound Dehiscence	Low
Gracilis muscle flap	99[14,15]	43%-100%	Sexual dysfunction, Cosmesis, Wound dehiscence	Low + High
Plugs	49	45.9%	Recurrence, Cost	Low
Transabdominal ligation1	49[16,17]	95%-100%	Bleeding, Intraperitoneal Rectal injuries	High
Mesh repair	48[10,18]	71%-81%	Recurrence, Larger fistula, Cost	Low + High
Martius flap	104[7,19]	65%-100%	Sexual Function, Cosemsis	Low

¹For high fistula only.