Does laser fistuloplasty (FiLaC™) offer any benefit over surgical closure of the internal orifice?

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

1. Short-term efficacy and safety of three novel sphincter-sparing techniques for anal fistulae: a systematic review.Techniques in coloproctology · 2017
   Pooled it
2. Laser fistula treatment: beyond the controversial aspects: best clinical practice recommendations from an international group of surgeons with extensive experience in the procedure-the FiLaC recommendations.Techniques in coloproctology · 2025
   Review
3. Emerging Data on Fistula Laser Closure (FiLaC) for the Treatment of Perianal Fistulas; Patient Selection and Outcomes.Clinical and experimental gastroenterology · 2021
   Review
4. Implementation of laser ablation of fistula tract (LAFT) for perianal fistulas: do the results warrant continued application of this technique?Techniques in coloproctology · 2019
   Article

Corrections and comments

• Comment on
  Five years of experience with the FiLaC™ laser for fistula-in-ano management: long-term follow-up from a single institution.2017

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

Abstract

PubMed holds no abstract for this paper.

Indexed as