Dr. Chris Dobzyniak, Interventional Radiology, explains an IR procedure for the treatment of problematic hemorrhoids, and describes what a patient can expect before, during, and after a Hemorrhoid Artery Embolization (HAE).
Hi, I'm Doctor Christ Azie. I am an interventional radiologist. An interventional radiologist is a specialized doctor who uses the tools of the radiologist to see inside the body to treat medical conditions that have traditionally required much more invasive treatments. Interventional radiology procedures can be used to treat a wide range of conditions often through only a pinprick in the body. These low risk techniques result in minimal downtime, little to no recovery time, often immediate return to normal activity and just a band aid as evidence. Do you have had any treatment at all? Today, we're going to talk about hemorrhoid artery embolization as a treatment for problematic hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids are common and can affect men and women of all ages. Hemorrhoidal tissue is a normal part of the body. It's composed of a rich network of blood vessels. When these tissues swell, they can cause a variety of symptoms including bleeding during bowel movements, itching or burning around the anus, mild to severe pain and bulging, swollen, unsightly tissue. Fortunately, there are a variety of treatments for patients who suffer from hemorrhoids. These begin with the most conservative treatments such as simple alterations and diet and lifestyle there's also banding, which is the application of a tight rubber band around the hemorrhoidal tissue. This causes tissue to dry up and fall off over the course of a few weeks. There's also surgical resection, which is described by many patients as one of the most painful surgeries to recovery from recovery. For some surgery can take up to 6 to 8 weeks and often requires narcotics for pain management. An alternative to these is a minimally invasive procedure called hemorrhoid artery embolization, which can be done as the first treatment for patients who wish to avoid surgery or banding or in patients who have had previous treatments and their hemorrhoids have come back. Hemorrhoid artery embolization is a minimally invasive procedure where the blood vessel is typically punctured at the groin or the wrist. A catheter which is just a small hollow plastic tube about the size of a piece of uncooked spaghetti is then guided under X ray into the blood supply to the hemorrhoidal tissue. We then inject small particles and place small metallic coils to block the blood flow into the hemorrhoidal tissue. The procedure typically takes less than an hour. The patient is then observed in recovery for a few hours after the procedure before heading home where they can resume normal activity the next day with little to no side effects. Most patients will begin to see an improvement in their hemorrhoid related symptoms within about two weeks
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