Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

fistula

American  
[fis-choo-luh] / ˈfɪs tʃʊ lə /

noun

  • fistulas,
    plural
  • fistulae
    plural
  1. Pathology. a narrow passage or duct formed by disease or injury, as one leading from an abscess to a free surface, or from one cavity to another.

  2. Surgery. an opening made into a hollow organ, as the bladder or eyeball, for drainage.

  3. Veterinary Pathology. any of various suppurative inflammations, as in the withers of a horse fistulous withers, characterized by the formation of passages or sinuses through the tissues and to the surface of the skin.

  4. Obsolete. a pipe, as a flute.


fistula British  
/ ˈfɪstjʊlə /

noun

  1. pathol an abnormal opening between one hollow organ and another or between a hollow organ and the surface of the skin, caused by ulceration, congenital malformation, etc

  2. obsolete any musical wind instrument; a pipe

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of fistula

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin: “pipe, tube,” of uncertain origin


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

A range of anti-inflammatory medications can treat Crohn's disease, but they show limited efficacy for closure of perianal fistula tracts.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024

Gill ended up with her stoma after suffering a fistula and a fourth degree tear between her rectum and vagina when giving birth to her son.

From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2023

While rare today in developed countries, an obstetric vesicovaginal fistula was a major complication of childbirth among 19th century women in America.

From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2023

But the process requires a long recovery: fistula of the bladder takes about five weeks to heal, while a rectal fistula needs four or five months.

From New York Times ● Jul. 18, 2022

Their people, continually employed in killing, thought but little of the preservation of life; what did they do when they were attacked with a putrid fever, a fistula, a hernia, or a pleurisy?—They died.

From Curiosities of Medical Experience by J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen

Perianal fistulae, abnormal connections between the anal canal and perianal skin, are a common complication of Crohn's disease that often result in painful abscesses and impact patients' quality of life.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024

The researchers profiled more than 140,000 single cells from diverse Crohn's disease patients with perianal fistulae.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024

Over the last four decades, the ships’ surgeons have performed surgeries in 56 developing countries, operating on patients with such conditions as tumors, cataracts, burns, obstetric fistulae or bone deformities, among others.

From Fox News ● May 21, 2019

On a shelf is a lurid, plastic, life-size model of a rectum afflicted by every imaginable malady – haemorrhoids, fistulae, ulcerative colitis, faecaliths.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 31, 2013

The appendix has been found to be the seat of tubercular processes; in the rectum they form the general cause of the fistulae and abscesses so commonly met with here.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 4 "Diameter" to "Dinarchus" by Various

She says there is a huge stigma around fistulas and stomas in the Kenyan culture.

From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2023

It causes inflammation and damage to the digestive system, leading to symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss and fatigue and complications such as strictures and fistulas.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 17, 2023

Surgeries included many performed in the body’s orifices to treat polyps, inflamed tonsils, hemorrhoids and fistulas.

From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2023

He is most famous for improving the technique to repair obstetric fistulas, which are abnormal openings between a woman's genital tract, urinary tract or rectum that cause urinary incontinence.

From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2023

Ischio-rectal abscesses are common among the tuberculous and rectal fistulas often give much bother.

From Psychotherapy by James J. (James Joseph) Walsh

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Just like flashcards, but way more fun

Don't take our word for it. Leave the boring studying behind and join VocabTrainer today. You'll learn even faster and never look back.

Take me to Vocabulary.com