Hemorrhoidectomy performed with a Ligasure hemostatic device causes less postoperative pain and takes less time to do than hemorrhoidectomy with the Harmonic Scalpel, according to Shek Yuen Kwok, M.D., and colleagues at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Hong Kong.
Seven days after patients with a total of three grade 3 or 4 hemorrhoids underwent a hemorrhoidectomy in a single-blind, randomized trial, the median postoperative pain score (assessed pain with a visual analog score) for the 24 patients in the Ligasure group was significantly lower than that for 23 patients in the Harmonic Scalpel group (2.6 vs. 4.8) (Dis. Colon Rectum [online] Dec. 21, 2004).
The Ligasure operation took significantly less time to perform than did the procedure using the Harmonic Scalpel (11 min. vs. 18 min.), the investigators said.
No between-group differences in complications or other parameters (length of hospital stay, amount of pethidine required, time to first bowel movement, and patient satisfaction) were identified in the study.