The increasing number of surgical procedures for female genital fistula in England: analysis of Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data.

The aim of this study was to describe the number and trend of surgical procedures for female genital fistula in England. An online search of Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data was carried out. Data were available for the 4-year period from 2002-03 until 2005-06. The total number of surgical procedures carried out for female genital fistula steadily increased by 28.7% from 616 in 2002-03 to 793 in 2005-06. The number of surgical procedures performed for rectovaginal fistula exceeded the total number of surgical procedures carried out for vesicovaginal and urethrovaginal fistula in each year of the study period. This pattern needs to be monitored and investigated further.