[Day surgery for anal disease]

Historically, patients with anal diseases treated on a day surgery basis had inadequate cure rates and a high complication rate. After World War II, modern treatment methods were learned from the UK and USA and improved in Japan. However, the improved radical methods were so complex that approximately 2 weeks' hospitalization was needed. Recently, day surgery for various diseases including hemorrhoids has been recommended by the Japanese ministry of Health and Welfare. However, the characteristics of anal anatomy and physiology make the smooth healing of wounds difficult and tend to cause postoperative pain, bleeding, infection, prolonged healing time, etc. To prevent such difficulties, care must be well planned following the critical path of informed consent, careful surgery, postoperative observation, and management at home. However, hospital staff in charge of such surgery are under so much stress that only patients with less severe anal disease without local or systemic complications should be selected for day surgery.