Haemorrhoids--a review.

BACKGROUND

Haemorrhoids have plagued humankind since the dawn of history. Hippocrates describes the treatment of anorectal disorders with special exactness. He describes specula to examine patients and he treated patients with suppositories, cautery and even by excision. It seems the fundamentals of haemorrhoid treatment have not changed for thousands of years.

OBJECTIVE

This article presents a review of haemorrhoids with particular reference to the general practice setting.

DISCUSSION

It has been estimated that 50% of the population has haemorrhoids by the age of 50 years. Although patients often consider the condition to be a single simple disease, this is not so. This article demonstrates that a large variety of closely related conditions are classified as haemorrhoids and it emphasises the dangers of misdiagnosis as haemorrhoids can mimic more important and serious diseases.