A comparative study of excisional surgery and cryohaemorrhoidectomy.

Fifty patients with haemorrhoids treated by cryohaemorrhoidectomy were studied prospectively and compared with seventy-seven patients treated by excisional surgery over a period of 5 years. Comparison was based on degree of haemorrhoids, post-operative pain, presence of complications such as bleeding, urinary retention, anal stenosis, length of hospitalization and recurrence of symptoms. Both groups were comparable in age but more men than women suffered from haemorrhoids. Patients whose main symptom was bleeding and with minimal prolapse benefited most from cryosurgery. The study also showed that only 14% of patients had significant pain after cryosurgery compared to all the patients who had excisional surgery. Complications such as bleeding and anal stenosis were more common in patients who had excisional surgery while those who had cryohaemorrhoidectomy were more liable to recurrence especially those with prolapse. The period of hospitalization was considerably shorter after cryohaemorrhoidectomy than after excisional surgery.