Proctology

Proctology is a specialist medical field that focuses on diseases of the colon, rectum and anus.

Screening through endoscopy via a colonoscopy detects and provides treatment for:

• Haemorrhoids (internal and external)
• Chronic constipation or diarrhoea
• Rectal and anal pain
• Anal fissures and painful or aesthetically displeasing anal warts
• Perianal abscess
• Anal fistula
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Prolapse

Proctology procedures

Screening through endoscopy via a colonoscopy detects and provides treatment for:

• Abscesses are boils full of pus that arise from infection. Incision and drainage is a surgical technique that entails draining large pus-filled abscesses. The entire procedure takes forty-five minutes and happens under local anaesthetic. Through a tiny incision, surgeons drain the abscess using a catheter or by simply squeezing out the fluid. Dr Boesack flushes and cleans the site using a sterile solution.
• Haemorrhoidectomy is surgery to remove large blood vessels inside the rectum or anus. Before the surgery, the patient is provided with an enema to empty the bowel. A haemorrhoidectomy happens under general anaesthetic and entails the use of an electrically powered cutting instrument called diathermy. Within forty-five minutes, haemorrhoids and tags are removed and left exposed.
• Anal fistula drainage uses a soft tube (Seton) to remove all the pus near the tract for the opening to mature. An anal fistula is a passage in the middle of the anal gland and skin that forms after draining a perianal abscess.
• Fistulectomy is surgery to open the anal fistula and is considered when the fistula doesn’t cross the sphincter.
• A sphincter-saving procedure seals the origin of the anal fistula and treats the condition without leading to faecal incontinence.
• Treatments of anal fissures, which are tears in the wet tissue, the mucosa that overlaps the anus, include the use of Botox or a surgery called a sphincterotomy. A sphincterotomy is a procedure to sever the anal sphincter, which is a set of muscles joined to the rectum.
• There is surgery to treat rectal prolapse when the top part of the rectum telescopes out through its entrance. Incontinence happens along with rectal prolapse. Should the condition not resolve on its own, even after following a high-fibre diet and not straining during bowel movements, Dr Boesack surgically corrects the condition through the abdomen or rectum. The surgeon separates loose attachments from the pelvic wall through an abdominal rectopexy and pulls and fixes the rectum to the sacrum behind the pelvis. Through sutures or prosthetic mesh, the rectum remains fixed to the sacrum. Parts of the colon are also removed to improve bowel movement and relieve chronic constipation.