HAEMORRHOIDS AND PORTAL HYPERTENSION HAVE NO DIRECT RELATIONSHIP. TRUE OR FALSE?

Abstract

Haemorrhoids may occur in association with portal hypertension but their incidence remains unknown, although, they are one of the most common causes of lower gastrointestinal bleeding reported to occur in these patients. Little is known about the prevalence of haemorrhoids in patients with portal hypertension. The aim of this study was to determine whether the incidence of piles increases in these patients or not in comparison to the normal population. For this purpose, we studied 50 patients with portal hypertension and 50 controls, all were above fifty years and were subjected to sigmoidoscopy, upper endoscopy and abdominal ultrasonography together with thorough clinical examination.

The results of this study show no significant difference between the incidence of haemorrhoids in patients with portal hypertension(52%) and in control subjects (46%). There was also no significant relation between the prevalence of haemorrhoids and the grade of oesophageal varices or degree of portal hypertension.

Thus , from the study we can conclude that :

-The prevalence of haemorrhoids is not increased in patients with portal hypertension. - There is no relation between the presesnce of haemorrhoids and the degree of portal pressure or type of portal hypertension whether cirrhotic or non cirrhotic.