A complication-free treatment for all grades of internal haemorrhoids

Common procedures used in the management of internal haemorrhoids are all associated with varying degrees of post-treatment pain and complications. In 2013, we introduced, for the first time, direct current electrotherapy (DCE) to the UK. The advantages of the treatment are that it is an out-patient treatment that can be used to treat all 4 grades of disease, while requiring no anaesthetic or preparation beforehand and with no downtime following treatment. The outcomes of the first 100 patients treated in the UK were presented and the results confirmed that it was successful in treating all 4 grades of disease, with a tendency for larger haemorrhoids to need more treatments to achieve complete symptom control. It was associated with no serious adverse events, there was no downtime at all and it was successfully used in those patients who had failed other therapies previously, including banding, haemorrhoidal artery ligation and haemorrhoidectomy.

Our abstract was published following the oral and poster presentation at the European Society of Coloproctology in Barcelona in 2014, given by Dr Mark Hudson-Peacock.