Abstract: Objective  To investigate the  short-term and long-term effect of intersphincter approach to protect external anal sphincter via intersphincter sulcus approach in perianal abscess.Methods A total of 376 patients with perianal abscess were admitted from March 2020 to June 2022,including 298 patients in the control group and 78 patients in the observation group.The propensity score matching method was used to obtain baseline data balance in 45 patients in each group.The control group received traditional incision and thread drawing,while the observation group received external anal sphincter protection.Evaluate the short-term and long-term efficacy of both groups of patients based on postoperative pain scores,wound healing time,average hospital stay,anal function score at 1 month after surgery,and recurrence rate within 1 year.Results After matching,there was no statistically significant difference in baseline data between the two groups of patients (all P＞0.05).On the first day after surgery,there was a statistically significant difference in pain scores between the two groups of patients (3.51±1.547 VS 4.33±1.871,P<0.05),while there was no statistically significant difference in pain scores between the two groups on the 7th (5.07±1.250 vs 4.87±1.236)and 14th days (1.18±0.490 vs 1.22±0.599)after surgery (P＞0.05).There were significance among wound healing time(31.89±2.197 VS 35.60±3.934),average hospital stay(10.64±2.442 vs 12.16±3.548),and anal function score at 1 month after surgery(3.44±1.765 vs 6.00±3.303) (all P<0.05).The one-year recurrence rate in the observation group was 15.6%,while the control group was 8.9%,without statistically significant difference(P＞0.05).Conclusion To protect the external sphincter during the operation of perianal abscess can reduce the muscle injury during the operation,reduce the postoperative pain,accelerate the wound healing and protect the anal function on the premise of ensuring the cure rate.

Key words: perianal abscess, external anal sphincter, anal function