MOHALI: A local surgeon today claimed to have developed a new method of treating anal fistula for the first time in South Asia with the help of Fortis Super Specialty Hospitalat Mohali in Punjab.

Dr Pankaj Garg, a Senior Consultant in Department of Surgery at the Mohali-based hospital claimed at a press conference here that the method known as Anal Fistula Plug (AFP) procedure has revolutionized the treatment of Anal Fistula.

The Anal Fistula Plug has already been approved for clinical use by the highest standard enforcing authority of America, US FDA, he said.

Garg said that Anal Fistula is a perplexing disease affecting a large number of people all over the world. It has afflicted mankind for centuries but till date there had been no satisfactory treatment available. Conventionally Surgery - Fistulutomy / Fistulectomy has been the mainstay of treatment, he said.

He said that in this surgery, the fistula tract is laid open by cutting out the whole tract with knife. This leads to a large wound from the anal opening to the buttock. Understandably this leaves the patient with lot of pain in the postoperative period with the result the patient needs hospitalization for 4 to 8 days and requires dressings for this wound for 4 to 6 weeks.

The patient obviously is off the work for few weeks. In spite of all these difficulties, this surgery is associated with a high recurrence rate. Other known methods such as Seton treatment and fibrin glue method have also been not widely accepted due to high recurrence rates, Garg said.