Do we at all need surgery to treat thrombosed external hemorrhoids? Results of a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: It is unknown whether surgery is the gold standard for therapy of thrombosed external hemorrhoids (TEH). METHODS: A prospective cohort study of 72 adults with TEH was conducted: no surgery, no sitz baths but gentle dry cleaning with smooth toilet paper after defecation. Follow-up information was collected six months after admission by questionnaire. RESULTS: Despite our strict conservative management policy 62.5% (45/72) of patients (95% confidence interval [CI]: 51.0–74.0) described themselves as “healed” or “ameliorated”, and 61.1% (44/72, 95% CI: 49.6–72.6) found our management policy as “valuable to test” or “impracticable”. 13.9% (10/72, 95% CI: 5.7–22.1) of patients suspected to have recurrences. 4.2% did not know. Twenty-two of the 48 responding patients reported symptoms such as itching (18.8%), soiling (12.5%), pricking (10.4%), or a sore bottom (8.3%) once a month (59.1%, 13/22), once a week (27.3%, 6/22), or every day (13.6%, 3/22). CONCLUSIONS: The dictum that surgery is the gold standard for therapy for TEH should be checked by randomized controlled trials.