Rubber Band Ligation Vs Injection Sclerotherapy in Early Haemorrhoids

Abstract

Haemorrhoids are common surgical problem all over the world and various treatment modalities are available. However, efforts are being made to treat the haemorrhoids as outpatient procedure. Injection Sclerotherapy has been the orthodox treatment for early haemorrhoids. Rubber Band Ligation (RBL) is a relatively new procedure. In this study RBL has been compared with injection Sclerotherapy for the management of 1st. and 2nd. Degree haemorrhoids. This was a prospective randomized study conducted at General Hospital (S-1) and Services Hospital, Lahore (S-3) from August 1995 to December 1998. The study included fifty patients in each category divided randomly. No patient was below 20 years in each category. Males were affected more than females and most patient were constipated chronically. Bleeding and prolapse were cardinal complaints in each category. In the RBL group 20% patients complained of post banding mild pain and at the end of 12 months 98.6% patients were free of cardinal symptoms of bleeding and prolapse. In the Sclerotherapy group 14% patients complained mild pain after the injection and at the end of 12 months 88% patients were free of cardinal symptoms of bleeding and prolapse. RBL was found to be cost effective and showed better short and long term results, with low recurrence rate as compared to injection sclerotherapy. Therefore, RBL should be considered as the procedure of choice for early degrees of haemorrhoids.