Profile and Management of Complicated (Strangulated) Prolapsed Internal Hemorrhoids at a Tertiary Care Hospital – A Prospective Study

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Neglected cases of hemorrhoids presentingwith complications like strangulation are not uncommon,as observed in our tertiary care hospital. Under the abovebackground we conducted the present study to look into theprofile and management of the patients with complicated(especially strangulated) prolapsed hemorrhoids attending toour tertiary care hospital.Material and methods: This prospective hospital based studywas conducted in unit-II of department of general surgery inShri Maharaja Harisingh (SMHS) hospital Srinagar over aperiod of 5 years from January 2013 to December 2017. Allpatients with complicated prolapsed internal hemorrhoids(strangulation with infection, ulceration, gangrene, and/or necrosis) were enrolled in this study. Patients presentingwith features suggestive of complicated prolapsed internalhemorrhoids were subjected to clinical history, local inspectionand examination to confirm the diagnosis, and were managedappropriately.Results: During the study period of 5 years, 31 patients ofcomplicated (strangulated) prolapsed internal hemorrhoidswere enrolled. The age of our patients ranged from forty-fourto seventy-two years with mean age of 59.12±6.56 (SD=6.56)years. In our study 20 patients (64.5%) were from rural areaand 11 patients (35.5%) were from urban background. Mostcommon presentation in our study was strangulated prolapsedinternal hemorrhoid with pain, ulceration and infection.Conclusion: Patients with grade 3 and 4 internal hemorrhoids,patients having difficult access to health care facilities, andpatients having poor compliance to conservative treatment,should be offered surgical intervention at the earliest beforethe complications arise. Complicated prolapsed internalhemorrhoids can be managed initially conservatively (byprone position, bed rest, saline compresses, hot baths, icepacks, soothing topical applications, laxatives, antibiotics, sitzbath with antiseptic solutions)