Laser to Cure Fissure A Boon

Do you have difficulty in passing stool? Is there a pricking pain or a sensation of broken glass that you experience while moving your bowels? This condition occurs due to a tear in the skin near the anal opening and is called an anal fissure. The most common causes of an anal fissure are hard stools, constipation, or injury to the anus. Adding to the list are chronic diarrhoea, sexually transmitted disease, HIV, tuberculosis, inflammatory bowel syndrome, anal cancer, or childbearing, which can also cause anal fissures.

You might have tried a variety of home remedies like eating a fibrous diet, hydrating yourself with fluids, or taking over-the-counter laxatives to make the stool soft. These remedies might soothe your symptoms for a short period, but often the pain returns after a few days. Over time, several treatments have become available for people suffering from anal fissures. Among multiple methods for anal fissure treatments available, lateral internal sphincterotomy (LIS) proves to be the gold standard among patients.

LIS is a procedure requiring general anaesthesia administration to prevent recurrence following suture ligation. Complications like excessive bleeding and faecal incontinence are common but often resolve rapidly in a few weeks.

A new approach that overcomes the drawbacks of LIS is to treat fissures with a laser. Pain in the rectum or anus can be tormenting, and hence it is natural for you to get apprehensive about a surgery using a scalpel (surgical knife) at the pain site. That’s when using a laser comes to the rescue.

   Method of Treatment:

1. Laser surgery uses a novel minimally invasive (aggressive) technique. If knowing more about the procedure would put you at ease, continue to read the laser procedure below here at Hexa Health. 
2. To begin with, the doctor will brief you about the entire treatment and its outcomes.
3. The doctor will tell you that you will have to be on anaesthesia for six to eight hours.
4. Under anaesthesia, the doctor will treat your fissure with a laser electrocoagulation technique.
5. Laser electrocoagulation technique treats the fissure with a laser beam.
6. The fibrotic and granular tissue in the anal opening that forms the fissure is first irradiated (shone) with the laser beam.
7. Then, the area around the ulcer (sore) is irradiated without disturbing the sphincter muscles.
8. After this, a deep fraction mode of laser is shined on the submucosal layer of the anus. This step promotes regeneration and rejuvenation of the wound site. The submucosa is the layer beneath the mucous membrane consisting of blood vessels and nerves.
9. Thus, regeneration and rejuvenation aid in reducing pain and bleeding.
10. The entire procedure can be easily performed in an outpatient clinic under local anaesthesia.
11. Following the procedure, you will be asked to visit for follow up after six months to one year.

Advantages of Laser Surgery Over Conservative Surgery:

1. There are several advantages of laser surgery compared to conservative sphincterotomy. We at Hexa health have put together some of the significant benefits of laser surgery below:
2. The post-operative pain is significantly less as the laser seals the nerve endings
3. The blood loss during the surgery is low as it seals the blood vessels too
4. The infection rate is zero as the laser completely blocks off the ulcer after the surgery
5. The time spent at the doctor’s office for the procedure is reduced to half.[2]

Conclusion

Thus, on the whole, laser surgery for treating fissures is considered as one of the simple, safe and effective methods available.[4]

At HexaHealth, we are committed to providing the best care to our patients by providing extensive assistance during the procedures. You can visit us at www.hexahealth.com to know more about lasers to cure fissures. Get a consultation from our group of expert surgeons and find the best course of action for yourself.