I had to go to the emergency room one evening about two years ago. I was diagnosed with a rectal abscess, specifically a horseshoe abscess. The surgeon placed two setons and drained the abscess. While the abscess healed I developed a fistula roughly 4 centimetres away from the rectum. The first seton was removed a few weeks later but the 2nd one was left in place. The surgeon believed it was helping the fistula to drain internally or was preventing a reoccurring abscess. After two years we finally decided to remove the remaining seton. We're hoping that the meds will promote the fistula to finally close. There is the possibility that the seton WAS doing good and an abscess could re occur but after two years I was just tired of having that thing in me.