[Early diagnosis and rapid treatments of gastrointestinal fistula].

Traditional treatments of gastrointestinal fistula include early drainage, maintaining nutrition and then resection of fistula at the proper time,which usually take three to four months or even longer. Rapid treatments of gastrointestinal fistula mean promoting rapid spontaneous closure of tract fistula and early primary resection of fistula within two weeks after fistula occurrence. Early diagnosis is the premise of early management, and fistulography and abdominal CT scan are important early diagnostic methods. Most of fistula could close spontaneously in the maintaining stage. To promote the rapid closure, however, special measures including sufficient drainage, somatostatin and total parenteral nutrition in the early stage should be implemented to avoid intra-abdominal collection of intestinal fluid and infection, control further leakage of intestinal fluid and improve nutritional status. In the late stage,when leakage of intestinal fluid could be controlled, recombine human growth hormone (rhGH) and enteral nutrition should be administered in place of somatostatin and total parenteral nutrition respectively. The fistula can reach rapid spontaneous closure in both stages. Fibrin glue and rhGH used at the same time can improve the curative rate and shorten the treatment time even more. In the 1960s and 1970s, early primary resection of the fistula and re-anastomosis often resulted in anastomosis failure. The reasons for this included poor nutritional status, uncontrolled secretion of intestinal fluid, severe intra-abdominal infection and multiorgan dysfunction syndrome. Such stage management policy has been proposed, developed and persisted since late 1960s. Nowadays, the advance of medical science provided the possibility to change or improve the current policy. Our research proved that early resection of the primary fistula and re-anastomosis of the small bowel could be performed successfully in some selected patients whose general conditions are good and intestinal adhesion were not severe within ten to fourteen days after fistula occurrence. More studies are still needed to define the indications and contradictions for early resection of the primary gastrointestinal fistula, and prove the feasibility and rationality of rapid treatments of gastrointestinal fistula.