[Scoring of postoperative complications in coloproctology]

Surgical procedures for anorectal diseases are numerous, and the most important question is how to guarantee these patients an adequate follow-up in order to establish the real efficacy of the treatment and the effective incidence of side effects related to the procedures. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a scoring system with analysis of the quality of life and measurement of the severity of short- and long-term complications which might be useful in the followup of patients surgically treated for anorectal diseases. The authors followed 200 patients and performed 90 hemorrhoidectomy, 50 surgical interventions for anal fissures, 30 fistulectomy and 30 surgical interventions for rectocele. After surgery, patients were followed up at 3, 6, and 12 months using a numerical questionnaire regarding short- and long-term complications and quality of life. During the follow-up after treatment 120 were regularly monitored while 80 were not. In the monitored cases it was observed that greater severity of short- and long-term complications was significantly associated with poor quality of life. The mean values of quality of life recorded at the various observation times up to the end of follow-up significantly differed in comparison to the mean values observed before surgery (5 vs. 8.5 vs. 9 vs. 8.9, p = 0.05). The quality of life after surgical treatment did not significantly improve, however, in the monitoring checks at 12 months as compared to those at 3 and 6 months (8.5 vs. 9 vs. 8.9, p = ns). The quality of life and the numerical value of severity of complications are useful follow-up indices of the principal surgically treated, proctological diseases.