Recently, an ambulance from Harbin, which is over 700 miles away from Beijing, raced to our hospital with a special patient suffering from a high fever for over 1 week. This middle-aged man’s body was distorted due to chronic but progressive ankylosing spondylitis. He was mandatory in a folding position and stayed in bed for years. Perianal abscess caused the fever. Methylene blue staining test carried out by the emergency team from the Department of General Surgery indicated the rectovesical fistula. Besides, severe electrolyte disturbance made the patient critically weak. With the multidisciplinary cooperation, the emergency surgical team successfully operated transverse colostomy and debridement of perianal abscess. Afterwards, the patient recovered satisfactorily, and went back home for further treatment.

The patient’s folding position

Operation in process by the emergency surgical team

Reporter: Gan Dingzhu

Photo: Emergency Surgical Team

Translator: Li Yatong

Editor: Zhuang Junling