Single session treatment for bleeding hemorrhoids.

Fifty consecutive outpatients with bleeding internal hemorrhoids were prospectively treated with a single application of rubber band ligation or infrared coagulation. Complete follow-up observation was obtained in 48 patients (23 underwent rubber band ligation and 25 underwent infrared coagulation). At one month after treatment, 22 patients who underwent rubber band ligation and 16 who underwent infrared coagulation, were symptomatically improved (p less than 0.05). At six months, 15 patients who had undergone rubber band ligation and ten who had infrared coagulation treatment, remained improved (p less than 0.05). There was no statistical difference in the discomfort experienced by either group during or after the procedure as determined by a self-assessment scale. Two patients who underwent rubber band ligation experienced complications--a thrombosed external hemorrhoid developed in one patient and another had delayed rectal bleeding. Although associated with occasional complications after treatment, rubber band ligation is more effective than in infrared coagulation for single session treatment of bleeding internal hemorrhoids.