ICL 18.4: Hemorrhoids, Fissures, Prolapse, Abcesses Flashcards
what are the top 10 anorectal complains?
- hemorrhoids
- hemorrhoids
- hemorrhoids
- hemorrhoids
- hemorrhoids
- fissure-in-ano
- fistula-in-ano
- condyloma acuminatum
- abscess
- pilonidal disease
what’s the difference between internal vs. external hemorrhoids?
external = squamous regular skin –> painful
internal = mucosa of rectum –> not painful
both are bulging of blood vessels!! the type of skin is what differentiates and also the external hemorrhoids are super painful while internal hemorrhoids bleed a lot more
what are the grades of internal hemorrhoids?
grade I = protrudes into the anal canal but does not prolapse
grade II = prolapses but reduces spontaneously
grade III = prolapses and requires manual reduction
grade IV = irreducible prolapse
none of these are emergencies
how do you prevent hemorrhoids?
- fiber
- water
- pramoxine + steroid cream
how do you treat hemorrhoids?
grade II and III you can do local treatment and banding
grade III and IV you do surgical excision or stapling treatment for prolapsing hemorrhoids
what is banding a hemorrhoid?
you only with internal hemorrhoids
you literally put a rubber band around the hemorrhoid which cuts off the hemorrhoids blood supply which causes it to wither and drop off painlessly in a few days
what is an excisional hemorrhoidectomy?
you excise the hemorrhoid and sew the defect closed
what are the complications of hemorrhoid surgery?
- PAIN
- swelling
- fecal impaction due to administering narcotics + anal pain so you hold your poop
- bleeding 5%
- reoperation for bleeding 1%
- mucus drainage
- stenosis/stricture if you take too much skin and then they can’t have a BM
what condition looks like hemorrhoids but aren’t actually them?
- rectal prolapse
it looks a lot like prolapsed hemorrhoids!!
you can tell the difference because rectal prolapse is circular while prolapsed hemorrhoids are radial lines
rectal prolapse can be treated with sugar for 30 minutes which pulls all the water and edema out of the tissue to reduce it and then you can push it back in; this does NOT work for hemorrhoids obviously lol
- anal condyloma
- cancer (biopsy margins)
what surgery do you do to treat full thickness prolapse?
- Altmyer procedure is when you cut off the prolapsed rectum down to the anus to the edge of the dentate line and it’s painless and patients can go home the next day
pelvic floor physical therapy is needed after to strengthen it and prevent recurrence
- internal surgery and take the redundant part of the rectum and sigmoid where you attach the colon to the posterior pelvis; do this in younger people because it has lower recurrence rates
what are anal fissures? what causes anal fissures?
a tear in the anoderm! this causes your internal anal sphincter to not want to open anymore and closes up so then when you try to have a BM moving forward, the fissure tears more since the sphincter doesn’t want to open
causes:
1. postpartum
- chronicity
how do you treat anal fissures?
- fluid
- fiber
- nitroglycerine cream to help sphincter relax
- CCB which help muscles in internal anal sphincter to relax
- botox = paralyzes internal anal sphincter to allow stool to pass
- dilation
- lateral internal sphincterotomy (cut a little but not too much to the point you cause incontinence)
what causes perianal accesses?
we think it’s from infections of the anal columns that then drip into the anal crypts and cause external accesses
what is the number 1 cause of anal abscess?
cryptoglandular disease!
the abscess can be perianal, ischiorectal, intersphincteric, or supralevator
how do you treat an abscess?
anesthetize –> open wide –> drain
you don’t want to pack it because it can cause the infection to stick around
dont give antibiotics unless DM patient