Hemorrhoidal ligation. A review of efficacy.

Two hundred forty-one patients undergoing hemorrhoidal rubber band ligation over a five-year period were reviewed to focus on complications. Three patients (1.2 percent) were hospitalized. Two, on oral anticoagulants, recovered from bleeding complications. One patient developed a band-related abscess that resolved with drainage. Twenty patients (8.3 percent) reported pain associated with the procedure. Three patients went on to subsequent surgical hemorrhoidectomy. There were no deaths in the series. This report agrees with previously published series highlighting the efficacy and cost containment of hemorrhoidal ligation. Continued reliance on this approach to hemorrhoidal disease is justified.