Table 1.
Summary of included studies
| Reference | Study design | Total no. of patients | No. of patients with Crohn's anal fistula | Intervention(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buchanan et al.13 | Retrospective cohort | 24 | 6 | Seton |
| Chung et al.14 | Retrospective cohort | 51 | 40 | Seton, AFP |
| Gligorijević et al.15 | Prospective cohort | 24 | 24 | Seton |
| Göttgens et al.16 | Pilot trial | 10 | 10 | Seton |
| Kotze et al.17 | Retrospective cohort | 78 | 78 | Seton |
| Sciaudone et al.18 | Retrospective cohort | 35 | 35 | Seton |
| Sugita et al.19 | Retrospective cohort | 67 | 67 | Seton |
| Tanaka et al.20 | Retrospective cohort | 14 | 14 | Seton |
| Uchino et al.21 | Retrospective cohort | 62 | 62 | Seton |
| Graf et al.22 | Retrospective cohort | 119 | 119 | Seton, fistulotomy |
| Thornton and Solomon23 | Retrospective cohort | 28 | 28 | Seton |
| Dursun et al.24 | Retrospective cohort | 81 | 81 | Seton, fistulotomy |
| Alessandroni et al.25 | Prospective cohort | 12 | 12 | Local anti‐TNFα |
| Asteria et al.26 | Prospective cohort | 11 | 11 | Local anti‐TNFα |
| Faucheron et al.27 | Retrospective cohort | 41 | 41 | Fistulotomy, seton |
| Halme and Sainio28 | Retrospective cohort | 35 | 35 | Fistulotomy |
| Scott and Northover29 | Retrospective cohort | 59 | 59 | Fistulotomy, seton |
| van Koperen et al.30 | Retrospective cohort | 61 | 61 | Fistulotomy, MAF |
| de Parades et al.31 | Retrospective cohort | 30 | 11 | Fibrin glue |
| Sentovich32 | Retrospective cohort | 48 | 6 | Fibrin glue |
| Sentovich33 | Retrospective cohort | 40 | 4 | Fibrin glue |
| Park et al.34 | Prospective cohort | 25 | 2 | Fibrin glue |
| Loungnarath et al.35 | Retrospective cohort | 39 | 13 | Fibrin glue |
| Zmora et al.36 | Retrospective cohort | 37 | 7 | Fibrin glue, MAF |
| Mizrahi et al.37 | Retrospective cohort | 106 | 28 | MAF |
| Hyman38 | Prospective cohort | 33 | 14 | MAF |
| Jarrar and Church39 | Retrospective cohort | 98 | 19 | MAF |
| Joo et al.40 | Retrospective cohort | 26 | 26 | MAF |
| Makowiec et al.41 | Prospective cohort | 32 | 32 | MAF |
| Ozuner et al.42 | Retrospective cohort | 101 | 47 | MAF |
| Rieger et al.43 | Retrospective cohort | 35 | 6 | MAF |
| Sonoda et al.44 | Retrospective cohort | 99 | 44 | MAF |
| Marchesa et al.45 | Retrospective cohort | 13 | 13 | MAF |
| Van der Hagen et al.46 | Retrospective cohort | 103 | 21 | MAF, fistulotomy |
| Nelson et al.47 | Retrospective cohort | 65 | 17 | Dermal advancement |
| Cintron et al.48 | Prospective cohort, multicentre | 73 | 8 | AFP |
| El‐Gazzaz et al.49 | Retrospective cohort | 33 | 13 | AFP |
| Ky et al.50 | Prospective cohort | 45 | 14 | AFP |
| O'Connor et al.51 | Prospective cohort | 20 | 20 | AFP |
| Ommer et al.52 | Retrospective cohort | 40 | 4 | AFP |
| Owen et al.53 | Retrospective cohort | 35 | 3 | AFP |
| Schwandner and Fuerst54 | Prospective cohort | 16 | 10 | AFP |
| Schwandner et al.55 | Prospective cohort | 19 | 7 | AFP |
| Senéjoux et al.56 | RCT | 106 | 106 | AFP, seton |
| Zubaidi and Al‐Obeed57 | Prospective cohort | 22 | 2 | AFP |
| Gingold et al.58 | Prospective cohort | 15 | 15 | LIFT |
| Molendijk et al.59 | Randomized phase II trial | 21 | 21 | MSC |
| Cho et al.60 | Phase I trial | 10 | 10 | ASC |
| Cho et al.61 | Prospective cohort | 41 | 41 | ASC |
| Ciccocioppo et al.62 | Phase I trial | 12 | 12 | MSC |
| de la Portilla et al.63 | Open‐label trial | 24 | 24 | ASC |
| Garcia‐Olmo et al.64 | Prospective cohort | 10 | 3 | ASC |
| Garcia‐Olmo et al.65 | Randomized open‐label trial | 49 | 14 | ASC, fibrin glue |
| Lee et al.66 | Phase II trial | 43 | 33 | ASC |
| Schwandner67 | Prospective cohort | 13 | 11 | VAAFT |
| Mennigen et al.68 | Retrospective cohort | 10 | 6 | OTSC® |
| Regueiro and Mardini69 | Retrospective cohort | 32 | 32 | EUA |
| Schlegel et al.70 | Retrospective cohort | 11 | 11 | IAR |
| Yamamoto et al.71 | Retrospective cohort | 31 | 31 | Stoma |
| Schaden et al.72 | Retrospective cohort | 69 | 5 | Myocutaneous flap |
| Ozturk73 | Retrospective cohort | 10 | 1 | Free cartilage |
| Bodzin74 | Retrospective cohort | 7 | 7 | Carbon dioxide laser |
| Moy and Bodzin75 | Retrospective cohort | 27 | 27 | Carbon dioxide laser |
AFP, anal fistula plug; TNF, tumour necrosis factor; MAF, mucosal advancement flap; LIFT, ligation of intersphincteric tract; MSC, mesenchyme‐derived stem cells; ASC, adipose‐derived stem cells; VAAFT, video‐assisted anal fistula treatment; OTSC, over‐the‐scope clip; EUA, examination under anaesthesia; IAR, intersphincteric anal resection.