Abstract: Objective To compare the curative effect of postoperative sphincter fistula ligation and incision and suture for postoperative pain，anal function and wound healing time of sphincter anal fistula.Methods The date of 124 patients with sphincter anal fistula were retrospectively analyzed.Among them，60 patients who underwent sphincter fistula ligation were set as the study group，and 64 patients who underwent incision and suture were set as the control group.Anal incontinence score，anal function，postoperative pain，wound healing time and clinical efficacy were compared between two groups.Results The total score of anal incontinence in the control group（8.68±1.65）was significantly higher than that（7.03±1.46）in the study group，and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）.The total anal function score of the control group（6.71±0.93）was significantly lower than the total anal function score of the experimental group（8.04±1.11），and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）.The postoperative pain score of the control group（6.22±1.24）was significantly higher than that of the experimental group（3.52±1.06），the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）.The wound healing time of the control groupand the test There was no significant difference in the wound healing time（5.78±1.43）between control group [（5.31±1.32）d]  and study group[（5.78±1.43）d](P>0.05）.The total effective rate of the control group was 95.31%，which was not significantly different from the total clinical effective rate of the experimental group（88.33%）（P>0.05）.Conclusion Ligation of sphincter fistula can significantly alleviate postoperative pain in patients with sphincter anal fistula and promote the improvement of anal function.There is no significant difference between clinical efficacy and incision and suture.It can flexible used as an ideal procedure for anal fistula in clinical practice.

Key words: sphincter fistula ligation, incision and suture, transsphincter anal fistula, anal function