ABSTRACT

Objective:  To determine the outcome of rubber band ligation in third degree hemorrhoids.

Methods: - This design of this study was cross sectional study. The study was conducted at Shalamar medical and dental college, Lahore and the duration of this study was from April 2020 to September 2021. 215 patients were seen with complain of hemorrhoids, of which 47 had 3^rd degree hemorrhoids. All patients with 3^rd degree hemorrhoids underwent for rubber band ligation and were enrolled in the study. Outcome in our study was defined as pain, bleeding, constipation, anal fissure/fistula and infection. Chi- square test (χ2) of all qualitative variables was applied by taking p-value < 0.05 as significant.

Results: - Of 47 patients admitted with 3^rd degree hemorrhoid, 30 were males and 17 were females. The mean age of males was 38.78±12.71 while mean females age were found to be 22.73± 7.25 respectively. The most common complaint following rubber band ligation (RBL) was pain. 19 out of 47 patients were presented with pain followed by bleeding (14), constipation (13), anal fissure/fistula (10) and infection (8) which constitutes about 22.34 %, 22.78%15.32% and 14.03% respectively. There was significant relationship found between gender and anal fissure/fistula with p-value of <0.05.

Conclusion: - Patients with 3^rd degree hemorrhoids after RBL procedure showed fewer complications comparable to other surgical procedures in the treatment of hemorrhoids. It is the best possible options in third degree internal hemorrhoids. Moreover, this procedure is simple and cost-effective and requires no hospitalization, no anesthesia and no post-operative care.