Surgery
Most
do not require surgery. It is usually
considered only for severe hemorrhoids.
Surgery may be done if
other treatments (including home treatment) have failed. Surgery is also
considered when symptoms become so bothersome that your lifestyle is affected
or when hemorrhoids create a medical emergency, such as uncontrolled bleeding
or blood and pus at the anus along with severe rectal pain.
External hemorrhoids
External hemorrhoids usually
are not removed with surgery (hemorrhoidectomy) except if they are very large
and uncomfortable or if you are having surgery on the anal area for another
reason, such as internal hemorrhoids or a tear ().
Internal hemorrhoids
Surgical removal of
hemorrhoids (hemorrhoidectomy) is a last resort for treating small internal
hemorrhoids.
Hemorrhoidectomy is considered the most successful
way to treat large internal hemorrhoids, especially those that are still a
problem after treatments that cut off blood flow to hemorrhoids (fixative
procedures) have been tried.
Surgery Choices
The surgical option for hemorrhoids is a
hemorrhoidectomy, used mostly for large internal
hemorrhoids.
What To Think About
Hemorrhoids: Which Treatment Should I Use?
Sometimes, increased pressure on external
causes them to get irritated and clot. This
causes a lump (thrombosed, or clotted, hemorrhoid) to form. You may suffer from
severe pain at the site of the clotted hemorrhoid.
A procedure to
relieve the pain can be performed in a doctor's office or
outpatient clinic. The doctor applies local anesthesia and then
makes a small
incision where the lump has occurred to remove the
clot and reduce pressure and pain. The procedure works best if it is done less
than 4 or 5 days after the clot has formed.
If the pain is
tolerable, you may choose to wait to see a doctor. The pain
usually goes away in a few days. After 4 or 5 days, the pain from cutting and
draining the hemorrhoid is usually worse than the pain from the clot.