Background: Despite generally favorable outcomes of ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract for anal fistula, several patients experience persistent or recurrent disease.
Objective: This study aimed to identify patterns of treatment failure after ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract and evaluate their outcomes.
Design: Multicenter retrospective study.
Setting: Five university hospitals in Thailand.
Patients: Those diagnosed with persistent or recurrent cryptoglandular anal fistula after ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract between 2012 and 2020.
Main outcome measures: Fistula characteristics, patterns of treatment failure and outcomes of subsequent management were analyzed.
Results: A total of 200 patients were included, of whom 12.5% had persistent fistulas and 87.5% had recurrence. Median time to recurrence was 6 months (range, 1-48). Most treatment failures (n = 186, 93%) occurred within one year after surgery. Six distinct patterns of treatment failure were identified. The most common was type 1 (I-E, tract running from the previous internal opening (I) to an external opening (E) - known as an original fistula: n=116, 58%), followed by type 2 (I-L, tract running from the previous internal opening (I) to an unhealed intersphincteric wound - known as an intersphincteric fistula: n = 56, 28%). Type 1 failure was effectively treated by redo- ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract with an 87% success rate. Overall, the healing rate was 90.5% - with a median follow-up period of 18 months (range, 12-38).
Limitations: Exclusion of non-cryptoglandular fistulas may limit generalizability. The retrospective multicenter design and surgeon-dependent decision-making may have introduced selection bias and heterogeneity in surgical technique.
Conclusions: Most treatment failures occurred within one year after ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract. Understanding the six distinct failure patterns enables more appropriate surgical decision-making. The majority represented either recurrence of the original tract or persistence within the intersphincteric space. See Video Abstract.

