{
  "abstract": "Background: Recurrence of anal fistulas represents one of the most frequently encountered complications in fistula management and remains a dilemma. Studies investigating the histological structure of fistulas and their relationship with recurrence are extremely limited. Objective: To evaluate the specimens of anal fistulas for the presence of multinucleated giant cells and to assess whether any correlation existed between giant cell presence and fistula recurrence. Design: Prospective cohort study. Patients: Adult patients with intersphincteric perianal fistulas included. Patients with recurrent fistulas, Crohn’s disease, tuberculosis, malignancy, immunocompromised status, pregnancy, or those who declined surgical intervention were excluded. A total of 62 patients were included in the final analysis. Interventions: Fistulotomy and open biopsy taken from the fistula tract. Main Outcome Measures: Postoperative recurrence rates, presence of multinucleated giant cells in the sampled fistula tracts, and the association between giant cell presence and fistula recurrence. Results: After 6 months of follow-up, healing was achieved in 52 patients (84%), while fistula persistence was observed in 10 patients (16%) and considered as recurrence. Giant cells were significantly higher in the recurrence group, whereas age, gender, ASA score, and comorbidity did not differ significantly between recurrence and non-recurrence groups. Giant cell presence was observed in 3 patients (5.8%) without recurrence compared to 4 patients (40.0%) with recurrence (p = 0.01). Other histological markers showed no significant difference between the groups. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that giant cell presence represents a significant predictor of recurrence in primary cryptoglandular intersphincteric anal fistula.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of General Surgery, Anadolu Healthcare Center in Affiliation with Johns Hopkins Medicine, 41400 Kocaeli, Turkey",
    "Department of General Surgery, Kartal City Hospital, 34100 Istanbul, Turkey",
    "Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, 17300 Çanakkale, Turkey"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ömer Faruk İnanç",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8314-0572"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Şermin Çoban Kökten"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Kenan Çetin",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8616-9784"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "İsmail Ertuğrul",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7699-090X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Wafi Attaallah"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yunus Emre Altuntaş",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1908-0085"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5a6xqk7v8a1e8.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/jcm15218518",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "5a6xqk7v8a1e8",
  "issns": [
    "2077-0383"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/15/21/8518",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-02",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5a6xqk7v8a1e8.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:21:42Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/jcm15218518",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/15/21/8518"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "journal-openalex:F27",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Association Between Multinucleated Giant Cells and Recurrence of Anal Fistula: A Prospective Cohort Study",
  "title_text": "Association Between Multinucleated Giant Cells and Recurrence of Anal Fistula: A Prospective Cohort Study",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T00:21:25Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5a6xqk7v8a1e8",
  "venue": "Journal of Clinical Medicine",
  "versions": []
}