‘HALO’ To Piles – A Painless Exit To Misery

A harrowing estimate states that nearly half the populace would develop haemorrhoids also known as piles – those discomforting, painful, inflamed blood vessels during some point in their lives. Even its treatment is mostly an agonizing procedure. However, a painless procedure has surfaced that cures this niggling problem for good.

Piles are nothing but the enlargement of the blood vessels in or around the back route occurring due to an increase in the pressure inside them, leading to their swelling, and formation of small lumpy formations, with few of them bursting and bleeding.

The condition is generally not quite grave and would subside in some days, however, in some cases it might become an unremitting occurrence leading to regular blood loss, utter aggravation, pain and discomfort.

The blood emitted is generally a bright tone of red, but if it has a darker shade to it, then it is always safe practice to visit the doctor concerned as it could be a precursor of some form of grave condition like bowel cancer.

The problem could crop up at any point in time. Though there is no clear-cut reason behind its occurrence, but constipation, an improper dietetic intake and hereditary influences could be major contributors.

Due the pressure being exerted by the uterus that expands and pushes the rectum during pregnancy, piles could occur and even further exacerbate; hormones occurring during pregnancy could additionally slacken the movement of food via the digestive tract.

Piles occur in varying sizes and exist either within or are exteriorly placed. The internally occurring piles mostly go unspotted till they start bleeding.

Externally occurring piles could be especially painful and quite uncomfortable and lead to itchiness and irritable skin. In case of formation of a blood clot, the region could become quite firm in texture and sore, and feel similar to one being seated on something thorny or spiky.

Conventional line of treatment comprise of steroid creams for allaying the itchiness, or liquid jabs that are intended to cause shrinkage of the piles. However, regrettably, there are mere impermanent cures and surgery is the sole effectual treatment in advanced cases.

The usual procedure comprises of incising the piles out from the sensitive skin of the back route – that could be excruciating, have long periods of healing and few individuals face issues with bowel control later on.

There are likelihood of recurrence as merely the tip of the pile is taken out – hence the blood supply is still present that could lead it to swiftly spread again.

New-fangled procedures have come to light, like the HALO or haemorrhoidal artery ligation operation and at present the THD or transanal haemorrhoidal dearterialisation procedure.

Both these procedures function by impeding blood circulation to the piles, suturing the arteries that nourish them – they are basically the same operative procedures but conducted employing diverse devices.

These operative procedures lead to lesser pain – due to the blood supply being cut at the source or root of the pile, the sutures are given in the lower part of the rectum (located above the back route) where there are almost no pain nerve endings. Hence, the post-operative discomfort is significantly lesser.  The surgery could be conducted either under local anesthesia though people could even opt for general anesthesia.

The procedure initially starts with a tiny ultrasound device, resembling an undersized telescope that is employed for spotting all the arteries that supply blood to the piles. The telescope is attached with a needle within it that juts out and introduces a suture or two if needed into the artery that supplies blood to the piles.

No sooner does the blood flow stop; the pile shrivels and over a span of some days would retract to normal size. Thus, in this manner the piles are drawn back to their innate location that eliminates the likelihood of their re-growth.

Though HALO and THD have analogous functioning, THD is preferred by some due to its light and small appearance making it simpler to handle leading to better accuracy during operative procedure. This translates to lesser risk of piles relapse (that is quite atypical in these novel procedures), post-surgery discomfort and blood loss, particularly among patients ailing from severe piles.

As the piles are then safely fixed in position using sutures to avert their dislodgement, the THD procedure could be effectually conducted in complex cases, those which could not be suitably performed by other least-invasive procedures.

Nearly ninety percent of those operated found total resolution to their niggling signs. THD is presently deemed to have the least amount of trauma and minimal invasion as compared to other treatments.

The best part is that there are no open abrasions for healing as it is an internal procedure and lesser scarring to the region that could lead to imminent bowel control issues.

This translates to quicker recovery and return to daily functioning in just one to two days.

This operative procedure providing a novel lease to life is obtainable on the NHS and when done privately would come up to 2,500 pounds.

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