Using Botox during Hemorrhoid Surgery
I do a lot of reading and writing about hemorrhoids but it wasn’t until recently that I can across a study that was conducted in 2002, regarding the use of Botox to help patients undergoing a hemorrhoidectomy. This is truly an interesting and inventive use of Botox. Like most people, I’m familiar with Botox being used to numb up the nerves in the forehead to prevent wrinkling, but I had no idea that it was also used to treat some medical conditions and I had certainly never heard of it being used during hemroid surgery.
If you’re not familiar with the hemorrhoidectomy, it is the most serious of all hemorrhoid treatment options and surgical solutions; it is usually only used for patients with extremely serious conditions. Typically other options are tried prior to the hemorrhoidectomy, but if they don’t provide hemorrhoid relief then this surgery is the last option on the table. The reason this surgery is a last resort is because it involves cutting of the hemorrhoids with a scalpel, so it is very painful, has a slower recovery time and has a greater risk of side effects.
So now you’re probably curious where the Botox come in. Well prior to the hemorrhoidectomy, two separate groups received injections; one group was injected with Botox while a control group was injected with a saline solution. The study followed the patients for a week after the surgery and reported on their pain and morphine use. Neither group had any side effects due to the injections and the Botox group reported less pain and used less morphine than the control group.
I’m not sure exactly how the idea for using Botox during hemorrhoidectomies came about, but it does have some precedence. Apparently Botox is also used to treat nerve disorders in the shoulder and neck area as well as eye muscle problems. Since Botox is a deadening agent that paralyzes muscles it keeps the muscles from contracting with is what contributes to the pain.
