Hemorrhoids that cause problems are found equally in men and women, and their prevalence peaks between 45 and 65 years of age.

Hemorrhoid Banding

Hemorrhoids are swollen veins located in the lower rectum or anus. There are two types of hemorrhoids: internal and external. Depending on the location, symptoms may include pain, inflammation, itching, and a feeling of fullness following a bowel movement. Additionally, there may be bright red blood covering the stool, on the toilet tissue or in the toilet bowl.
Hemorrhoid banding is a procedure in which your health care provider puts a rubber band around the excess tissue in the rectum (above the anus) to let it wither and heal on its own.

Procedures to treat Hemorrhoids

• Hemorrhoid Banding


• Hemorrhoidectomy


• Staples

There are number of minimally invasive treatments are available that are less painful than traditional hemorrhoid removal (hemorrhoidectomy) and allow a quicker recovery.

How does banding work

A tiny rubber band is placed around the tissue above the hemorrhoid. This cuts off blood supply to the hemorrhoid, causing it to shrink and fall off typically in a day or so. You probably won’t even notice when this happens or be able to spot the rubber band in the toilet.

CRH-O’Regan Disposable Hemorrhoid Banding System

Invented in 1997 by laparoscopic surgeon Dr. Patrick J. O’Regan, the CRH-O’Regan Disposable Hemorrhoid Banding System represents a significant advancement in rubber band ligation. Fifteen counts of new technology are incorporated in the patents for this next-generation device, which dramatically improves upon traditional instrumentation.

Notably, the CRH-O’Regan System is the first entirely disposable, single-use device for hemorrhoid removal. Previous metal instruments were introduced in the 1950s and 1960s, before the advent of virulent, blood borne pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis B and C. Today they pose reprocessing challenges and concerns about cross-patient infection.

Cleared by the FDA in 2000, the CRH-O’Regan procedure is 99.9% effective and can treat 90% of all hemorrhoid patients.

Hemorrhoid Classification

Class I – Hemorrhoid bleeds but doesn’t prolapse outside the anal canal

Class II – Prolapses, usually with defecation, but retracts spontaneously

Class III – Requires manual replacement into the anal canal after prolapsing

Class IV – Prolapsed tissue cannot be manually replaced and is typically strangulated or thrombosed

A large 2005 prospective study of the CRH-O’Regan System reported the lowest complication rate ever published at 16 out of 5,424 procedures, or 0.3%. Post-band bleed occurred in 8 patients (0.15%), post-band pain in 3 patients (0.2%) and post-band thrombosis in 5 patients (0.3%.). No other complications were observed.

Compared to conventional rubber band ligation, these figures demonstrate a ten-fold reduction in complications. Beyond this significant advance, the results showed the CRH-O’Regan System to have lower recurrence (4.8%) than previous banding techniques (12%) or even hemorrhoidectomy (5-8%).

It should be noted that patient compliance with dietary changes and recommended bowel habits may have marked influence on recurrence rates, however. Long-term studies are also needed to confirm whether this distinction exists at late follow-up.