[Surgical treatment of mucosal hemorrhoidal prolapse using a circular stapler]

We present a retrospective clinical study concerning our personal experience with the circular stapler in the treatment of hemorrhoids; the aim of this study was to evaluate the results of this surgical procedure, in terms of operative time, postoperative pain and rate of both short and long-term complications. Twenty-seven patients with grade 3 or 4 hemorrhoids, from January 1999 to June 2001, were included in the study. The main technical details of this procedure, requiring only a short learning period, are described and both short-term complications (such as severe postoperative pain, bleeding, urinary and fecal retention) and long-term ones (such as persistent or recurrent haemorrhoidal prolapse, anal stenosis) are analyzed. The reported results show that, in the presence of appropriate local anatomic conditions, this procedure is able to reduce the operative time, is almost painless and is characterized by low rate of complications.