Radiofrequency ablation and plication: a non-resectional therapy for advanced hemorrhoids

Background. Radio frequency ablation followed by plication of the hemorrhoidal mass for patients who would otherwise require hemorrhoidectomy is being practiced at our hospital since last 5 years. This procedure accomplishes hemorrhoidal symptom relief with far less post-operative pain and other complications as compared to various other types of hemorrhoidectomies. Materials and methods. A retrospective study of 1000 patients having grade III or grade IV hemorrhoids treated with the above technique over a period of 30 months is reported. A Ellman radiofrequency generator was used for ablation of the hemorrhoids. Follow-up record of these patients is presented. The post-operative outcome and procedure related complications are compared with conventional hemorrhoidectomy procedures. Results. With this procedure, the post-defecation pain score reported was between I and 4 (VAS) in the first week, which subsided thereafter. There were 42% patients who had post-defecation bleeding in the first 10 days. There were 82% patients able to resume duties on the 6th post-operative day. Of these, 5% of the patients had post-operative urinary retention needing catheterization for a single time, and 18 patients required readmission for secondary bleeding. None of the patients complained of fecal incontinence, sepsis, or anal stenosis. In the subsequent follow-up at a mean of 19 months, 4% of the patients had residual skin tags, 3% of them had symptomatic anal papillae, and 2% developed recurrence of hemorrhoids. Conclusion. The combined procedure described above could be a feasible alternative for surgical treatment of hemorrhoids being quick and easy to perform. With this procedure, the hospital stay is short, postoperative pain is less, return to work is faster, and recurrence rate is low. (C) 2005 Elsevier Inc, All rights reserved.