A NOVEL THERAPY FOR INTERNAL HEMORRHOIDS - LIGATION OF THE HEMORRHOIDAL ARTERY WITH A NEWLY DEVISED INSTRUMENT (MORICORN) IN CONJUNCTION WITH A DOPPLER FLOWMETER

Objectives: To assess the usefulness of hemorrhoidal artery ligation ( HAL) for internal hemorrhoids with a newly devised instrument (the Mor icorn). Methods: We devised a new instrument (the Moricorn) that is us ed in conjunction with a Doppler flowmeter. This instrument allows for easy and safe ligation of the hemorrhoidal artery, HAL with the Moric orn was performed on 116 patients with internal hemorrhoids who had ep isodes of anal pain, bleeding, and prolapse, One month after treatment , the effect was evaluated on the basis of improvement of symptoms and the shrinkage of hemorrhoidal tissue, Results: The treatment's effect was observed in 50 of 52 patients (96%) with pain, 50 of 64 (78%) wit h prolapse, and 92 of 96 (95%) with bleeding. No patient required anes thesia throughout the entire procedure. No major complications were en countered with this treatment. Conclusions: HAL with the Moricorn is a simple, safe, and effective method, However, further observations pre dicated on a longer follow-up, a larger number of patients, and compar isons with other conventional treatments are called for.