Short-term Results of Platelet-Rich Plasma in the Treatment of Chronic Anal Fissure: Randomized Controlled Clinical Study

BACKGROUND: Anal fissure is one of the most common benign anal disorders, and medical treatments play an important role in its management. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the short-term effects and success of platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of chronic anal fissure. DESIGN: The study is a 2 parallel group, randomized, controlled clinical trial. SETTINGS: The study was performed in 2 tertiary university hospitals. PATIENTS: Forty-four patients with chronic anal fissure were randomly assigned to platelet-rich plasma treatment or control group. Presenting symptoms and pain scores were recorded on enrollment. The control patient self-administered topical glyceryl trinitrate. Platelet-rich plasma was injected locally in the intervention group followed by self-administered glyceryl trinitrate. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure is a reduction in pain scores. RESULTS: On day 10 and 1 month after treatment, the mean pain score was significantly lower in the patients treated with platelet-rich plasma than in the controls (p = 0.005 and p < 0.005). By 1 month after treatment, the mean pain score declined by 5.7 points in the platelet-rich plasma-treated group compared with a 4.1 mean pain score decline in the control group (mean difference:1.6 points (95% CI, 0.3-2.9)). According to the repeated-measures analyses, pain scores decreased in both groups, but the decrease in the treatment group was statistically higher than in the control group (p < 0.001). Complete epithelialization and recovery rates were significantly higher in the platelet-rich plasma group than in controls at all follow-up times, with p values ranging from 0.034 to LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by its small sample size, and long-term follow-up of the patients was not presented. CONCLUSIONS: Platelet-rich plasma reduced concerns and accelerated epithelialization and healing in patients with chronic anal fissures. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/B461.