Annals of Coloproctology

Original Article

Anorectal benign disease

Ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) for high transsphincteric fistulas: a double-center retrospective study with long-term follow-up: Leichang Zhang, Chuanyu Zhan, Lu Li, Wanjin Shao, Guidong Sun, Yugen Chen, Guanghua Chen, Yulei Lang, Zenghua Xiao, Xiao Xiao; Ann Coloproctol. 2025;41(1):77-83. Published online January 17, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3393/ac.2024.00024.0003

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Abstract PDF: Purpose
This study aimed to evaluate the long-term efficacy of the ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) procedure in treating high transsphincteric fistulas.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the success rate of LIFT treatment in 82 patients with high transsphincteric fistulas involving at least one-third of the external sphincter. This study was carried out across 2 centers from November 2009 to February 2023.
Results
All patients underwent successful surgery with a median operative time of 48.9 minutes (range, 20–80 minutes), and no intraoperative or postoperative complications were reported. The median follow-up duration was 85.5 months (range, 4–120 months), with 5 patients (6.1%) lost to follow-up. Treatment was successful in 62 patients, whose symptoms disappeared and both the external opening and the intersphincteric incision completely healed, yielding an overall efficiency rate of 80.5%. There were 15 cases (19.5%) of treatment failure, including 6 (7.8%) that converted to intersphincteric anal fistula and 9 (11.7%) that experienced persistent or recurrent fistulas. Only 1 patient reported minor overflow during the postoperative follow-up, but no other patients reported any significant discomfort. There were no statistically significant differences between patients with surgical success and those with treatment failure in terms of fistula length, history of previous abscess or anal fistula surgery, number of external orifices or fistulas, and location of fistulas (all P>0.05).
Conclusion
LIFT is a safe and effective sphincter-preserving procedure that yields satisfactory healing outcomes and has minimal impact on anal function.

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