Abstract:Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of improved LIFT surgery and seton therapy in the treatment of complicated anal fistula. Methods A total of 80 patients with complicated anal fistula were randomly divided into treatment group (40 patients) and control group (40 patients). The treatment group was treated with improved LIFT surgery while the control group was treated with seton therapy. Curative effect, recurrence rate and complications were investigated in the two groups. Results There were significant differences in the operation duration, wound healing time, blood loss during operation, postoperative wound surface area, postoperative pain time,time of hospital stay, total effective rate, postoperative urinary retension, postoperative infection, recurrence rate 3 months after operation, the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores of piain on the 7th and the 14th postoperative day and at the first defecation after operation, and Wexner score of anal incontinence before operation between the treatment group and the control group (P < 0.05). But there was no significant difference in the VAS score on the 1st day after operation or the Wexner score of anal incontinence before operation (P > 0.05). Conclusions Compared with seton therapy, improved LIFT surgery is very effective in treating complicated anal fistula.