Abstract
Purpose
The recurrence rates of excision, incision, and conservative treatments following anal vein thrombosis (AVT) are unclear. We compared the efficacy of treatment methods using Kaplan–Meier statistics. Our null hypothesis H0 is that incision of AVT gives as good results as surgical excision in terms of recurrence-free outcome.
Methods
One hundred fifty patients treated in a single hospital in northern Germany from 2013 to 2017 were interviewed and their data analysed.
Results
While recurrence-free outcome was about 22% following conservative treatment and 21% for incisional treatment, only surgical excision enabled recurrence-free outcome (86%) 4 years following surgery. While conservative and incisional therapy did not differ statistically, excision was significantly better than both of those treatments (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Our null hypothesis H0 that incision of AVT gives as good results as surgical excision in terms of recurrence free outcome was rejected. Incision of AVT should be abandoned, as it is painful, useless, and associated with a high recurrence rate as a conservative treatment in four of five patients. Surgical excision is the only method that enables significant recurrence-free outcome and should be used as the treatment of choice.
Zusammenfassung
Hintergrund
Die Rezidivraten von Exzision, Inzision und konservativer Therapie der Analvenenthrombose (AVT) sind unklar. In diesem Beitrag wird die Behandlungseffizienz dieser Behandlungsmethoden unter Zuhilfenahme der Kaplan-Meier-Statistik verglichen. Unsere Nullhypothese H0 postuliert, dass die Inzision der AVT eine vergleichbar niedrige Rezidivrate erzielen kann wie die chirurgische Exzision.
Methoden
Bei 150 Patienten wurden in einem Norddeutschen Krankenhaus zwischen 2013 und 2017 Telefoninterviews durchgeführt und deren Daten analysiert.
Ergebnisse
Während die Rezidivfreiheit bei konservativer Behandlung 22 % und nach Inzision 21 % betrug, konnte nur die chirurgische Exzision eine postoperative Rezidivfreiheit von 86 % nach 4 Jahren erreichen. Während die konservative und die inzisionelle Therapie sich statistisch nicht unterschieden, erwies sich die chirurgische Exzision als statistisch signifikant besser als die beiden anderen Behandlungen (p > 0,001).
Schlussfolgerung
Die Null-Hypothese H0, welche postulierte, dass die Inzision der AVT eine vergleichbar niedrige Rezidivrate erzielen könne wie die chirurgische Exzision, muss zurückgewiesen werden. Die Inzision der Analvenenthrombose sollte nicht mehr durchgeführt werden, da sie schmerzhaft, sinnlos und bei vier von fünf Patienten mit einer ähnlich hohen Rezidivrate assoziiert ist wie die konservative Behandlung. Die chirurgische Exzision ist die einzige Methode, die ein rezidivfreies Ergebnis über Jahre sicherstellen kann, daher sollte sie zukünftig die Behandlungsmethode der Wahl darstellen.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Jongen J, Bach S, Stubinger SH, Bock JU (2003) Excision of thrombosed external hemorrhoid under local anesthesia: a retrospective evaluation of 340 patients. Dis Colon Rectum 46:1226–1231
Greenspon J, Williams SB, Young HA, Orkin BA (2004) Thrombosed external hemorrhoids: outcome after conservative or surgical management. Dis Colon Rectum 47:1493–1498
Cavcic J, Turcic J, Martinac P, Mestrovic T, Mladina R, Pezerovic-Panijan R (2001) Comparison of topically applied 0.2 % glyceryl trinitrate ointment, incision and excision in the treatment of perianal thrombosis. Dig Liver Dis 33:335–340
Perrotti P, Antropoli C, Molino D, De Stefano G, Antropoli M (2001) Conservative treatment of acute thrombosed external hemorrhoids with topical nifedipine. Dis Colon Rectum 44:405–409
Mlitz H, Wienert V, Koloproktologie DGf, Gesellschaft DD (2006) Anal thrombosis. Interdisciplinary guidelines of the German Society for Coloproctology in cooperation with the German Society for Dermatology. J Dtsch Dermatol Ges 4:770–771
Oh C (1989) Acute thrombosed external hemorrhoids. Mt Sinai J Med 56:30–32
Nieves PM, Perez J, Suarez JA (1977) Hemorrhoidectomy—how I do it: experience with the St. Mark’s Hospital technique for emergency hemorrhoidectomy. Dis Colon Rectum 20:197–201
Wronski K (2012) Etiology of thrombosed external hemorrhoids. Postepy Hig Med Dosw 66:41–44
Mirhaidari SJ, Porter JA, Slezak FA (2016) Thrombosed external hemorrhoids in pregnancy: a retrospective review of outcomes. Int J Colorectal Dis 31:1557–1559
Rouillon JM, Blanc P, Garrigues JM, Viala JL, Michel H (1991) Analyse de l’incidence et des facteurs éthiopathogéniques des thromboses hémorroïdaires du post-partum. Gastroentérol Clin Biol 15:A300
Pradel E, Terris G, Juilliard F, De la Lande PH, Chartier M (1983) Grossesse et pathologie anale. Étude prospective. Méd Chir Dig 12:523–525
Contou JF (1997) Anal fissure, hemorrhoidal thrombosis. Diagnosis, treatment. Rev Prat 47:1847–1853
Abramowitz L, Sobhani I, Benifla JL, Vuagnat A, Darai E, Mignon M, Madelenat P (2002) Anal fissure and thrombosed external hemorrhoids before and after delivery. Dis Colon Rectum 45:650–655
Giebel G (1995) Analvenenthrombose. Coloproctology 17:57
Sakulsky SB, Blumenthal JA, Lynch RH (1970) Treatment of thrombosed hemorrhoids by excision. Am J Surg 120:537–538
Gaj F, Trecca A, Suppa M, Sposato M, Coppola A, De Paola G, Aguglia F (2006) Hemorrhoidal thrombosis. A clinical and therapeutical study on 22 consecutive patients. Chir Ital 58:219–223
Mounsey AL, Henry SL (2009) Clinical inquiries. Which treatments work best for hemorrhoids? J Fam Pract 58:492–493
Gebbensleben O, Hilger Y, Rohde H (2009) Do we at all need surgery to treat thrombosed external hemorrhoids? Results of a prospective cohort study. Clin Exp Gastroenterol 2:69–74
Patti R, Arcara M, Bonventre S, Sammartano S, Sparacello M, Vitello G, Di Vita G (2008) Randomized clinical trial of botulinum toxin injection for pain relief in patients with thrombosed external haemorrhoids. Br J Surg 95:1339–1343
Nicholls J, Glass RM (1988) Koloproktologie. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokio
Fox A, Tietze PH, Ramakrishnan K (2014) Anorectal conditions: hemorrhoids. Fp Essent 419:11–19
Mann CV (2002) Surgical treatment of haemorrhoids. Springer, London
Zuber TJ (2002) Hemorrhoidectomy for thrombosed external hemorrhoids. Am Fam Physician 65:1629–1632, 35–6, 39
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
J. Ostendorf, P. Vassiliu, K. Kühling, I. Massalis, M.M. Luedi, and D. Doll declare that they have no conflict of interest. There are no other relevant or minor financial relationships between authors, their relatives or next of kin, and external companies.
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1975 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The Helsinki Declaration, last updated Oct 2008, declares that ethical approval for all interventional studies is required. This retrospective study does not influece any intervention, and documents world wide well known long term established treatment results. Thus formal Committee application is not required.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ostendorf, J., Vassiliu, P., Kühling, K. et al. Anal vein thrombosis—excise or nothing. coloproctology 42, 493–498 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00053-019-0381-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00053-019-0381-x
Keywords
- Anal vein thrombosis
- Therapy
- Surgical excision
- Recurrence rate
- Pain
- Visual analogue scale (VAS)
- Thrombosed external hemorrhoid