fistula.

A passage connecting body parts or a body part and the skin, formed abnormally or created deliberately for treatment.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• an intestinal fistula
• a draining fistula
• an arteriovenous fistula

On the page

The scan showed a fistula linking the inflamed bowel to the skin.

The surgeon distinguished the planned fistula from the damage the infection had caused.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Forms: Singular fistula; plural fistulas or fistulae. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.