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LaseRF Trial: Radiofrequency Ablation vs. Laser Hemorrhoidoplasty for Hemorrhoidal Disease

LaseRF Trial: Radiofrequency Ablation vs. Laser Hemorrhoidoplasty Procedure for Grade II-III Hemorrhoidal Disease: Prospective Randomised Controlled Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04981600
Enrollment
92
Registered
2021-07-29
Start date
2021-08-23
Completion date
2023-04-01
Last updated
2025-01-28

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Hemorrhoids

Keywords

Radiofrequency ablation, Laser hemorrhoidoplasty, Pain, Recurrence

Brief summary

Hemorrhoids, which can be defined as vascular cushions located at the anorectal junction, constitute an important part of the physiological continence mechanism. However, under various pathological conditions, they can expand below the dentate line and consequently are defined as hemorrhoidal disease, which is characterized by various symptoms such as bleeding, pain and itching. An ideal treatment should be effective in the long term, require less intervention to the surrounding structures, have low morbidity rates and cause minimal postoperative pain, which significantly affects the quality of life of a patient following surgery. he aim of this study is to compare the two contemporary minimally invasive methods.

Detailed description

Hemorrhoids, which can be defined as vascular cushions located at the anorectal junction, constitute an important part of the physiological continence mechanism. However, under various pathological conditions, they can expand below the dentate line and consequently are defined as hemorrhoidal disease, which is characterized by various symptoms such as bleeding, pain and itching. The indication of treatment depends primarily on the individual burden of the disease rather than its stage. An ideal treatment should be effective in the long term, require less intervention to the surrounding structures, have low morbidity rates and cause minimal postoperative pain, which significantly affects the quality of life of a patient following surgery. Although conventional resection based techniques have less recurrence rates, they tend to have a greater chance of leading to various postoperative complications such as significant postoperative pain, urinary retention, bleeding, abscess formation, anal stenosis, anal fissure and fecal incontinence, deeming non-resection based less invasive techniques more favorable in terms of postoperative morbidity. The main mechanism of non-resection based techniques is creating an inflammatory stimulus inside the prolapsed hemorrhoidal tissue which ultimately causes fibrosis and relocation of the tissue above the dentate line. There are several randomized controlled trials which compared the laser procedure especially with resection based methods in this regard. However, to our knowledge, which is based on a thorough search in the Pubmed and Google Scholar, no randomized clinical trial has been made comparing the radiofrequency ablation method with the laser ablation technique . The aim of this study is to compare the two contemporary minimally invasive methods in terms of postoperative complications, recovery process and postoperative pain.

Interventions

DEVICERadiofrequency ablation

Patients in the RF group will be first examined under anesthesia at the beginning of the procedure in lithotomy position. Approximately 3-6 ml of 20 mg/ml Lidocaine (Jetokaine, Adeka İlaç Sanayi, Samsun) solution will be injected between the cushion and the internal anal sphincter to minimize heat conduction to the surrounding tissues during the procedure. The HPR45i probe (F Care Systems, Antwerpen, Belgium) connected to the Rafaelo ® EVRF machine (F Care Systems, Antwerpen, Belgium) will be placed inside the cushion and 25 watts of RF energy will be transmitted. Care will be taken by not exceeding the dentate line caudally. The recommended Joule value for each operation is 1200-3000 J. Then cold is applied on the cushion, reducing the temperature of the tissue and preventing damage to the surrounding tissues. The same procedure will be performed for other pathologic cushions as well.

DEVICELaser

The same preoperative preparations will be done for the laser group as well. The NeoV 1470 (neoLaser, Israel) device will be used in this group. Following routine placement of the patient in lithotomy position and determining the cushion to be treated, a 12 W laser beam with a wavelength of 1470nm will be inserted into the cushion above the dentate line and advanced to the apex and approximately 3 laser shots are delivered throughout the course caudally, the number of which can be altered according to the size targeted cushion. Finally the procedure will be completed after gentle cold application. An enema will be given to the patients in both study groups in the morning of the operation and patients will be discharged with analgesics on the same day.

Sponsors

Istanbul Medipol University Hospital
CollaboratorOTHER
Gama Medical Ltd.
CollaboratorUNKNOWN
Umraniye Education and Research Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER_GOV

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 60 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Symptomatic patients who applied to the general surgery outpatient clinic due to stage 2 or 3 hemorrhoidal disease, unresponsive to medical treatment * Patients who have not undergone any previous surgery due to hemorrhoidal disease * Patients with written informed voluntary consent forms

Exclusion criteria

* Concomitant anorectal disease * History of anticoagulant use * Fecal incontinence complaint * History of active steroid/immunosuppressive use for any reason * Pregnancy * Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Rate of Healing4 monthHemorrhoid downgrading of at least 1 grade
Change in Visual analog score (VAS) at 4 weeks1st week and 4th weekPatients are simply asked to score their pain from 1 to 10, which is typically called visual analog scale in the literature, with higher scores representing more severe pain.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Hospitalization TimeDischarge day after the surgery up to 3 daysSpecified in days
Quality of Life for HSS (Hemorrhoid Severity Score)1st week and 4th weekHemorrhoid Severity Score (HSS) is the total score obtained by the sum of the numerical grades of pruritis, pain, prolapse, bleeding and soiling. All the five components in this classification system are graded into four grades ranging from 0 to 3.
Rate of complications1st week, 4th week and 4th monthSuch as bleeding, infection and hematoma
Number of admissions4 months after the procedureOutpatient follow up per routine or due to several complications such as pain, mucosal discharge, itching etc.
Operation TimeOperation 1 DaySpecified in hours

Countries

Turkey (Türkiye)

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026