How to care for anal fistula patients after surgery

  1. Execute postoperative medical prescriptions in a timely and careful manner and pay attention to the reaction after medication. Tell the patient that the operation is successful, make him/her feel happy and actively cooperate with the recovery period.  2.Tell the patient to rest in bed, avoid frequent and too strong activities, and instruct the patient to move appropriately. One patient with mixed hemorrhoids and anal fistula heard that she had to lie on her side and not move after surgery, so she slept on her side until her limbs and legs became numb and did not dare to move. After patient explanation that proper activity would not affect the wound, the patient eliminated the psychological burden and felt more comfortable after changing the correct sleeping position.  3. Postoperative pain. After surgery, as the effect of anesthesia fades, the wound pain is generally felt, making the patient nervous and anxious. The nurse should understand the patient’s mood, care about the patient’s pain level, should do more explanation work, help them to relieve the pain, and if necessary, give pain relief according to medical advice.  4. Postoperative urinary retention. This phenomenon is more often seen in male patients who are nervous, therefore, the nurse should try to make the patient’s spirit relaxed and encourage the patient to drink as much water as possible immediately after leaving the operating room, using this method can prevent the occurrence of urinary retention. Once urinary retention occurs, the nurse should first relieve the patient’s psychological pressure, make the patient mentally relaxed and in a comfortable position, let the patient drink hot drinks, listen to the sound of running water, rinse the perineum with warm water, induce, promote and assist urination by using needle pricks such as Zhongji, Quchi and Sanyinjiao, and gently massage the bladder bulge in the lower abdomen. When the above care is ineffective, catheterization should be used. Female patients should be told the correct posture of urination so as not to contaminate the wound with urine.  5. Diet. Patients should first eat nutritious liquid food, and then eat easily digestible, non-spicy and stimulating semi-fluid or general food according to the wound and stool condition. Some patients do not eat food for several days because they are afraid of wound pain during stool, resulting in hypoglycemic reaction. The nurse should understand the patient’s mood, explain the importance of eating, and encourage the patient to eat in order to facilitate wound recovery.  6. Help the patient to get through the stool barrier and reduce the patient’s pain as much as possible. The nurse should encourage patients to eat more vegetables and fruits and drink more water to make them feel relaxed and develop the habit of regular bowel movements. Give laxatives if necessary. In addition, the nurse should instruct the patient to clean the wound promptly after defecation and use herbal sitz bath, and then change the medicine in time. When changing medication, attention should be paid to gentle operation, distracting the patient’s attention and minimizing wound pain when changing medication.  7.When the wound is healed and discharged, the nurse should tell the patient to pay attention to the cleanliness and hygiene of the anal area, eat appropriate food and keep the stool unobstructed.