Systematic Management of Postoperative Enterocutaneous Fistulas: Factors Related to Outcomes

Excerpt

The authors DOI:(10.​1007/​s00268-007-9304-z) have presented a large series of patients with enterocutaneous fistulas. This study is important because it details a common but poorly understood phenomenon. In this compilation of data, the authors have created a referable standard to describe these fistulas. The strengths of their review is in their decriptions of the complication and morbidity rates of these fistulas by location. Notably, the authors have also produced a quotable 25% spontaneous closure rate and 31% mortality rate for small-bowel fistulas. Their review has produced some interesting observations. For example, the authors found that jejunal fistulas posed a higher mortality. They also found that only 1 of 60 patients died with an albumin value greater than 3 g/dl. …