Perianal Fistulas in the Dog Retrospective Evaluation of Surgical Treatment by Deroofing and Fulguration

Deroofing and fulguration (DR&F) was used as a surgical treatment for perianal fistulas in 30 dogs over a 5 year period at the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. A retrospective evaluation of the efficacy of this procedure was based on a written questionnaire completed by the owners. Dogs were placed initially into one of four categories according to their degree of perianal involvement: 0 to 90°, 91 to 180°, 181 to 270°, and 271 to 360°. The mean elapsed time between the last surgical treatment and follow-up evaluation was 39 months (range 6 to 63 months). Seventy-seven percent of the dogs were German shepherds. Sixty-seven percent of the dogs were intact males. The mean age of the dogs at the time of onset was 59 months (range 22 to 106 months). The most common presenting clinical signs were owner recognition of fistulous tracts (97%), tenesmus (37%), and licking of the perianal region (20%). The most frequently encountered postoperative complications were recurrence (70%) followed by varying degrees of incontinence (23%) and tenesmus (20%). Incontinence was transient in 5 of 7 dogs. Long-term results were the following: 5 dogs (17%) excellent, 13 dogs (43%) good, 3 dogs (10%) fair, and 9 dogs (30%) poor. Anal sacculectomy as an adjunct therapy was generally done only when the anal sacs were secondarily involved. In 2 dogs, prophylactic anal sacculectomy was done at the time of DR&F. The use of this technique is advocated in dogs moderately affected with perianal fistulas (0 to 180°) because of the minimal invasiveness, limited postoperative morbidity, and relative effectiveness of the procedure as demonstrated by the results of this study. In those dogs more severely affected, DR&F was not shown to be superior to other methods previously described.