Medical Reports: Removing Hemorrhoids

WSVN -- For 10 years, Catherine Hanks lived with an embarrassing problem.

Catherine Hanks: "I developed hemorrhoids after I was pregnant with my child."

Nothing eased her discomfort.

Catherine Hanks: "I tried everything over the counter, every prescription, diet change, increased water intake, exercise, with no relief."

Surgery was out of the question.

Dr. Jeff Crooms: "Many patients tell me, I've lived with these for 10, 20 years or more just because I didn't want to have an operation because it was so painful."

But, now there's a new procedure that allows the hemorrhoids to be removed without making an incision.

Dr. Jeff Crooms: "The instrumentation for this is really very simple."

An ultrasound probe pinpoints the artery that feeds the inflamed blood vessel. Then, doctors tie an absorbable suture around it, restricting the blood supply.

Dr. Jeff Crooms: "And as you tie this, you actually hear with the ultrasound that the blood flow is occluded, and the idea behind that is that it will cause the internal hemorrhoids to shrink."

It takes 20 minutes and patients go home the same day.

Catherine Hanks: "I had the surgery on a Thursday and by Sunday I was off the pain medication."

Two months later, Catherine is making up for lost time.

Catherine Hanks: "I didn't do a lot of yardwork before."

A decade of suffering behind her.

The procedure is designed to remove internal hemorrhoids, but may help with external hemorrhoids as well.

Rachel Stiles
Public Relations
Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare
(850) 431-5874