The Use of Alternative Energy Sources and New Techniques for the Treatment of Hemorrhoidal Disease

With the emergence of newer surgical technologies, the management of hemorrhoidal disease has both progressed and evolved. Although rubber band ligation (RBL), surgical hemorrhoidectomy, and the procedure for prolapsing hemorrhoids (PPH), remain useful and are commonplace in the treatment of hemorrhoids, newer alternative energy sources have provided the surgeon with a wide array of new and effective techniques for managing hemorrhoidal disease. In this paper, we shall review the basic principles underlying electrosurgery, as well as a variety of other newer modalities, and compare them to more traditional techniques of hemorrhoidectomy.