We have reviewed and summarized 12 years of experience in treating hemorrhoids, a
condition that affects 4.4% of the Western population, of whom a third are symptomatic and
need treatment. During this time, in a proctological outpatient clinic of an urban hospital,
2,934 patients with second-and third-degree hemorrhoids were treated by rubber band
ligation (RBL), usually one ligation per session. Of these patients, 79% were completely
cured, 18% needed one or more additional sessions of treatment, and 2.1% failed to be …