fistula

[ fis-choo-luh ]

noun,plural fis·tu·las, fis·tu·lae

[fis-choo-lee]. /ˈfɪs tʃʊˌli/.

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

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.
Obsolete. a pipe, as a flute.

Origin of fistula

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

Words Nearby fistula

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fistula in a sentence

She became pregnant and suffered from an obstructed labor, which resulted in the death of her baby and an obstetric fistula.
'We Cannot Rest in Our Fight.' Angelina Jolie Talks to Dr. Denis Mukwege About Supporting Victims of Sexual Violence | Angelina Jolie | December 1, 2021 | Time
The sick sister was healed after relics from John XXIII were placed on the fistula on her abdomen.
Popes, Saints, Miracles, Weird Relics and Odd Omens Converge on Rome | Barbie Latza Nadeau | April 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
About 5,000 girls and women in South Sudan suffer from fistula each year.
Exchanging Daughters for Livestock: Child Marriage In South Sudan | Gauri van Gulik, Janet Walsh | March 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
In chapter 17 the author refers to an ancient method regarding cautery of the fistula in the inner corner of the eye.
Drawings and Pharmacy in Al-Zahrawi's 10th-Century Surgical Treatise | Sami Hamarneh
He had the fistula—lived on slops and couldn't sit his horse for a day's huntin'.
The Syndic | C.M. Kornbluth

fistula fos sonus & stolon quod est emissio, quasi emissio soni vel vocis.
The Works of Sir Thomas Browne (Volume 1 of 3) | Thomas Browne
These should be treated by drainage, using a wide rubber drain; the convalescence will be tedious, but the fistula will close.
A System of Operative Surgery, Volume IV (of 4) | Various
It is useful to remember that if the rubber tube be too long it may enter the hole in the bowel and thus maintain the fistula.
A System of Operative Surgery, Volume IV (of 4) | Various

British Dictionary definitions for fistula

fistula

/ (ˈfɪstjʊlə) /

nounplural -las or -lae (-ˌliː)

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
obsolete any musical wind instrument; a pipe

Origin of fistula

C14: from Latin: pipe, tube, hollow reed, ulcer

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

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