AUTHOR=Torrinha Gonçalo , Gonçalves Tatiana , Sousa Maria , Högemann Gerrit , Goulart André , Carvalho Alexandre Fernandes , Leão Pedro 

TITLE=The effects of laser procedure in symptomatic patients with haemorrhoids: A systematic review

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Surgery

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/surgery/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.1050515

DOI=10.3389/fsurg.2022.1050515

ISSN=2296-875X

ABSTRACT=Purpose: Haemorrhoids are normal structures in the human body, only seen as pathological when symptomatic. Nowadays, new techniques have surfaced using a diode laser which, after locating the target arteries, blocks the blood flow while hitting and shrinking the local mucosa/submucosa at a depth of 4mm. 
Our work aimed to give a broad view over this new technique and its consequences in the post-operative follow-up with a systematic review. 
Methods: EMBASE and MEDLINE databases were consulted, retrieving clinical trials, which mentioned the use of 980nm diode laser on the treatment of haemorrhoids. 
Results: Ten clinical trials analyzing the post-operative effects of laser haemorrhoidectomy were selected, including 2 randomized controlled clinical trials and 1 controlled clinical trial. The overall quality of the trials was low, indicating a high risk of bias.
Conclusion: The laser haemorrhoidectomy procedure revealed a high therapeutic potential, considering the reduced number of postoperative complaints (bleeding/pain), the high symptom resolution and the reduced recurrence, albeit the high heterogeneity between the studies in terms of reported results. Future investigations with higher quality and controlled double-blinded studies obtaining better-categorized results should be conducted in order to better evaluate this procedure and compare it to the current paradigm.

Keywords: Haemorrhoids, Diode Laser, Haemorrhoidectomy, Haemorrhoidplasty, HeLP.

Funding: None.
Declarations of interest: None.
Consent for publication: Not applicable
Availability of data and material: All materials are available for review upon request.
Code availability: All employed software codes and applications are available for review upon request.
Authors contributions: All authors contributed in the same manner for the following article.