Summary
Three hundred and ninety-three patients who had anal fissures were followed continuously for approximately five years. More than 44 per cent of them were cured nonsurgically within a four-to eight-week period. There was an 8 per cent complication rate, consisting of abscesses and fistulas, necessitating surgical treatment. The recurrence rate following healing was 27 per cent, but a third of these patients had recurrent fistulas that healed in response to further conservative treatment.
The authors feel that conservative treatment of anal fissure is justified unless there is advanced anal stenosis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Eisenhammer S: The surgical correction of chronic internal anal (sphincteric) contracture. S Afr Med J 25: 486, 1951
Gabriel WB: The Principles and Practice of Rectal Surgery. Ed 4, Springfield, Ill., Charles C Thomas, 1948, 508 pp
Lord PH: A new regime for the treatment of hemorrhoids. Proc R Soc Med 61: 935, 1968
Miles WE: Rectal Surgery: A Practical Guide to the Modern Surgical Treatment of Rectal Diseases. London, Cassell, 1939, 370 pp
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Read at the meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, San Diego, California, June 11 to 15, 1978.
About this article
Cite this article
Shub, H.A., Salvati, E.P. & Rubin, R.J. Conservative treatment of anal fissure: An unselected, retrospective and continuous study. Dis Colon Rectum 21, 582–583 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02586401
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02586401