Rationale  Fistulotomy is a procedure widely used in the treatment of anal fistulas but is associated with varying degrees of fecal incontinence that could be minimized by previous use of sedentum, and the material used may influence the outcome. Purpouse  To compare cotton and silastic used as setons in the spacing of the sphincter cables of rats subjected to fistulotomy. Method  Thirty Wistar rats were used, which after 30 days of fistula production were distributed in: Control Group (GC): the steel wire was removed, followed by fistulotomy; Cotton Group (GA) and Silastic Group (GS), in which were applied cotton and silastic setons respectively for 30 days when fistulotomy was performed; after seven days, euthanasia and removal of the specimens were performed for histological study, and the results were submitted to statistical assessment using Kruskal–Wallis non-parametric test, establishing a significance level of p < 0.05. Results  The distance between the muscular cables was 107.9 μm in the GC, 82.4 μm in the GA and 53.5 μm in the GS (p = 0.00001). The mean inflammation scores were 1.9 in the CG, 1.0 in the GA and 0 in the GS (p < 0.05). The fibrosis scores were 1.1 in GC, 0.9 in GA and 0.6 in GS (p > 0.05). Conclusion  The silastic seton prior to fistulotomy caused less detachment of the muscular cables and less local inflammatory process.

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