COLOVESICAL FISTULA
A colovesical fistula is an uncommonTrusted
Source condition. It’s an open connection
between the colon (large intestine) and the
bladder. This can allow fecal matter from the
colon to enter the bladder, causing painful
infections and other complications.
The colon, which helps form stool to be
released through the rectum, sits above the
bladder. The bladder stores urine before it’s
released through the urethra. A thick wall of
tissue normally separates the colon and the
bladder. Surgery or other trauma to this part
of the body can cause a fistula to form.
When an opening develops, the result is
colovesical fistula, also known as vesicocolic burning sensation when you urinate, and
fistula.
You may become aware that you have a
colovesical fistula if you develop one of its
most common symptomsTrusted Source
including:
Pneumaturia. This is one of the most
common symptoms. It occurs when gas from
the colon mixes with urine. You may notice
bubbles in your urine.
Fecaluria. This symptom occurs when you
have a mixture of fecal matter in urine. You
will see a brownish color or cloudiness in
your urine.
Dysuria. This symptom causes a painful or
recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI). It can
develop from any irritation of the bladder, but
nearly half of colovesical fistula cases
present with dysuria.
 COLOVESICAL FISTULA
Diagnosing a colovesical fistula may be
done with a cystography, a type of imaging
test. During the procedure, your doctor
inserts a thin, flexible tube with a camera at
one end into your bladder. The camera
relays images of the bladder wall to a
computer, so your doctor can see if there is
a fistula.
Another helpful imaging procedure is a
barium enema. This can help identify
problems with the colon. During the
procedure, your doctor inserts a small
amount of a liquid containing the metal
barium into your rectum through a little tube.
The barium liquid coats the inside of the
rectum, allowing a special X-ray camera to
see the soft tissue in the colon in greater
detail than with a standard X-ray.
he preferred treatment for a colovesical
fistula is surgery.
Conservative treatment may be tried if the
fistula is small enough, is not due to
malignancy, and is in a patient with limited
symptoms. Doctors may also recommend
conservative treatment when a patient has
other illnesses that are so severe, surgery is
not considered safe, or when cancer is
advanced and inoperable. Conservative
treatment may include:
being fed through your veins so your
intestines do not have to work and can rest
antibiotics and steroid medications
having a catheter inserted into the bladder to
drain fluid that may have seeped into it from
the colon