Symptoms:

Depending on the part of intestine that are connected, gastrointestinal fistulas may cause diarrhea, malabsorption of nutrients, and dehydration.

• Entero-enteral fistulas may have no symptoms.
• Enterocutaneous fistulas cause leakage of intestinal contents through an opening in the skin.

Signs and tests:

A gastointestinal fistula can often be identified with a barium swallow test.

If the fistula involves the colon, a barium enema may be needed.

A CT scan of the abdomen is usually done to determine if there is an area of infection (abscess) associated with the fistula.

A fistulogram may also be done. This image test involves injecting contrast dye into the opening of the skin of an enterocutaneous fistula and then taking x-rays.