If you have Crohn’s disease, you may have heard the word “fistula” once in a while and you might be wondering what exactly it could be. There are a lot of strange things that can happen in the body, and the medical community often uses terms that are difficult for the average person to understand. Quite simply, Crohn’s fistula is a narrow type of tunnel that can develop from your gut to another organ in the body. About a quarter of people with Crohn’s disease will develop the disease and need additional treatment.
A fistula often occurs in the intestine and usually forms between the intestinal wall and the bladder. It can also attach to the abdominal wall or another nearby organ. For women, this can be a problem with any part of the reproductive system. This can cause a woman who is unaware that she has Crohn’s, or even a woman who does, to assume that she has problems with the reproductive system. In a way, but probably not for the reasons she thinks.
The biggest problem with fistulas is that they are caused by an infection and spread that infection to all the organs they are connected to. It means you have a bladder infection if it fails and connects to the bladder. As for the reproductive system, infections also occur there. If something like this is left unattended, it can cause serious problems for the whole body. There are times when the fistulas migrate from one part of the intestine to another part of the intestine and the infection is contained in the intestine. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t need to be treated.
Once fistulas are detected, they should be treated immediately. Your doctor has many options for choosing treatment. You may want to try inflammatory drugs and sometimes an antibiotic to see if the fistula closes and heals on its own, but there are also cases where medical intervention is needed to close it. Depending on the severity of the situation, you may need large amounts of antibiotics to prevent the infection from spreading. In many cases, the fistula must be drained, loosened, and the opening closed.
Your doctor can tell you more about Croon’s fistula and what you might feel if it develops. You will usually know that something is wrong, you just won’t know what it is first. This may seem like a problem in other areas before you realize it may have something to do with your Croon’s. Fistulas, if left untreated, can be fatal, depending on where they are and whether they are open at both ends. No matter how severe, they all need to be taken care of to make sure you’re okay. Complications from Croon’s fistula can be difficult to manage, but knowing what’s going on to get treatment is the best thing you can do for your body and your quality of life.