A comparative study of different treatments of hemorrhoids.

Hemorrhoid is a common anal problem in our country that is currently treated by many different methods. Three modalities were assessed in a randomized prospective trial in which 848 patients with a second-degree hemorrhoid were treated by rubber band ligation (470 patients), injection sclerotherapy (280 patients), or cryosurgery (98 patients). The effectiveness of each method was assessed clinically at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after initial treatment, and determined by improvement in presenting symptoms. All patients complained of rectal bleeding and prolapse of the hemorrhoid on defecation, but only 69% had anal pain and 14% suffered from pruritus ani. Rubber band ligation was found to be superior to the other methods, and displayed statistical significance when compared to injection sclerotherapy and cryosurgery.