[Frequent proctologic findings from a surgeon's viewpoint]

Patients with anal complaints require a high level of sensitivity of the involved healthcare professionals. A large variety of different pathological changes lead to very similar clinical symptoms. A carefully guided history interview is able to target in many cases the underlying condition. Treatment should not be performed before definite exclusion of any malignant disease. However, patients most of all blame hemorrhoids for any anal physical discomfort and visit the physician with high expectations in treatment of their supposed disease. The following summary ranks anal diseases by frequency considering their clinical appearance and delimitation and provides an overview of symptoms associated with hemorrhoids.