Anal dilatation, lateral subcutaneous sphincterotomy and haemorrhoidectomy for the treatment of second and third degree haemorrhoids. A prospective randomized study.

Patients with second or third degree haemorrhoids were randomized for treatment by anal dilatation, lateral subcutaneous sphincterotomy or haemorrhoidectomy. The patients were studied by means of proctoscopy, anal manometry and symptom grading preoperatively, two months and one year after the procedure. After one year, more than half of the patients were symptomless in each treatment group. Both anal dilatation and sphincterotomy gave poor results in 25% of the patients, compared with 9% after haemorrhoidectomy. Young age was related to good results in anal dilatation or sphincterotomy, but not in haemorrhoidectomy. Results of anal dilatation and sphincterotomy in treating haemorrhoids are unpredictable, so they cannot be recommended as routine procedures. Maximal basal pressure was reduced after all three procedures, but neither the preoperative nor postoperative anal pressures were able to predict the result of the different treatment techniques.