Objective To evaluate the PDCA cycle on the rehabilitation of postoperative patients with anal fistula, aiming at improving the recovery of patients and preventing recurrence. Methods 144 postoperative patients of anal fistula were randomly divided into the observation group and the control group with 72 cases in each group. The observation group received intervention based upon the PDCA cy-cle, and the control group was given the traditional oral propaganda. The recovery time, recurrence rate, mastering of education content and self-control ability were compared in the two groups using t test and χ2 test. Results The mastering level of education content and the self-management skills in the observation group were superior to those of the control group. After 3 to 24 months of follow-up, the observation group showed shorter recovery time and less recurrence rate than that of the control group. Conclusions Nurs-ing intervention based upon PDCA cycle can strengthen the patients' mastering of related knowledge, pro-mote the recovery, reduce recurrence rate and improve the patients' quality of life.