fistula

[ fis-choo-luh ]

/ ˈfɪs tʃʊ lə /

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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.

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Origin of fistula

1350–1400; Middle English <Latin: pipe, tube, fistula

Words nearby fistula

fisticuff, fisticuffs, fistmele, fistnote, fist pump, fistula, fistulation, fistulectomy, fistulize, fistulotomy, fistulous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use fistula in a sentence

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|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|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) /

noun plural -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

Word Origin for 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

Medical definitions for fistula

fistula

[ fĭs′chə-lə ]

n. pl. fis•tu•las

An abnormal passage from a hollow organ to the body surface, or from one organ to another.