Fistula
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ˈfɪs.tjə.lə/, /ˈfɪs.tʃʊ.lə/
- US IPA: /ˈfɪs.tjə.lə/, /ˈfɪs.tʃu.lə/
Alternative forms
Origin
From Latin fistula ("pipe, ulcer, catheter"), from findÅ ("cleave, divide, split").
Full definition of fistula
Noun
- (medicine) An abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels that normally do not connect.
- 1903, William Rice Pryor, Gynæcology, page 113Small fistulæ are to be closed bilaterally in an antero-posterior line...
- 1917, Louis Adolph Merillat, Fistula of the Withers and Poll-Evil, page 5There are several reasons why a manual on this disease should be a part of the veterinary literature of the day, the chief one being that fistula of the withers is a very prevalent disease of horses and thus exacts a big toll from the horse industry.
- 1998, Scott Fisher, Enterocutaneous Fistulas, in Theodore J. Saclarides, Keith W. Millikan (editors), Common Surgical Diseases: An Algorithmic Approach to Problem Solving, page 164,Fistulas are abnormal communications between two epithelialized surfaces. The causes of enterocutaneous fistulas can be remembered using the mnemonic FRIEND: Foreign body, Radiation, Inflammation/Infection/Inflammatory bowel disease, Epithelialization, Neoplasm, and Distal obstruction. Fifteen to twenty-five percent of enterocutaneous fistulas arise spontaneously as in, for example, Crohn's disease or cancer.
- 2008, Sylvia Escott-Stump, Nutrition and Diagnosis-related Care, page 405An intestinal fistula is an unwanted pathway from intestines to other organs (e.g., the bladder).
- (rare) A tube, a pipe, or a hole.
Usage notes
(medicine) The skin is regarded as an organ, so the definition includes the abnormal connection of an intenal organ to the body's exterior (as in, for example, enterocutaneous fistulas).
Sometimes, a fistula will be intentionally created; for example, an Arteriovenous fistula is sometimes created to ease the treatment of a patient with end stage renal failure.