Haemorrhoids are a common ailment of the anus. It has four distinct stages:
Traditional surgical procedures are performed in hospital, under general anaesthetic or under spinal block. Diseased tissues are removed with an electric knife or a scalpel, the ensuing wounds and arteries running nearby have to be sealed with stitches that will be partially absorbed. Another option is surgery by a so-called circular sewing machine. Patients usually spend one or two days in hospital after the operation.
However, a new method is becoming more common, where special instruments are guided by ultrasound, and stitches are made in a targeted manner. These operations are performed in a single day, and require spinal block or general anaesthetic.
One of the newest methods described here comes from America, it uses Ligasure /Valleylab/ instruments, and is a method that relies on radio frequencies that measure tissue resistance too – it is a so-called tissue-adhesive tissue-adhesive method that can weld arteries as thick as 7mm. We know of an American surgeon (Milito), who has performed thousands of such surgeries, with excellent results. We at Gastromed surgery have used the method in over 400 cases successfully, each of our two surgeries houses one of these devices.
The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis, using local anaesthetic, tranquillisation, and/or targeted anaesthesia of the pelvic girdle /n.pudensus/. Based on our data, in case of tri-directional cutting, operations take around 20 minutes on average. Patients rest for 1,5-2 hours after the operation, and, having taken the necessary painkillers, they are furnished with advice on treating their wound, and escorted home. Patients may return to work after a week to 10 days.
Advantages of the procedure: it’s quick, simple, effective, and involves no blood loss. Wound healing is faster, because less tissue gets damaged beyond repair due to the short and low (60-70 Celsius) heat. This is precisely why healing times are a third to half of those expected after other methods. Pain only lasts for 2-3 days. The only drawback of the procedure is its cost, because both the main device and the single-use tools (pictured below) and electrodes are costly. In case of tri-directional cutting, with biopsies and regular check-ups included, the operation costs in the region of 150,000 Ft.
Naturally, like all invasive treatments, this procedure also carries the risk of post-operative complications, which amount to 1-2%. These may manifest in the form of improper wound healing, bleeding, which are fully treatable.