Xiaozhi decoction reduced posthemorrhoidectomy pain and analgesic medication consumption: a prospective study.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Xiaozhi decoction (XZD) on posthemorrhoidectomy pain and analgesic medication consumption.


METHODS
From May 2013 to March 2015, 315 patients who underwent open hemorrhoidectomy in our hospital were enrolled in this study, of whom, 160 patients were randomly assigned to accept sitz bath with warm water after hemorrhoidectomy (control group) and 155 patients were randomly assigned to accept sitz bath with XZD (XZD group) after hemorrhoidectomy. Postoperative pain at 12 hours after surgery and on postoperative days (PODs) 1, 2, 7, 14 and 28 was evaluated by Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Pain on defecation on PODs 1, 2, 7, 14 and 28 was also recorded using the VAS. The consumption of analgesics was also analyzed.


RESULTS
No significant difference was found in baseline characteristics between the two groups. Postoperative pain score of the XZD group was significantly lower on POD 2 (6.04±1.11 vs 6.33±1.14,P=0.0229), POD 7 (3.35±0.75 vs 4.22±0.87,P=0.0000) and POD 14 (2.87±0.64 vs 3.64±0.77,P=0.0000) than that of the control group. Similarly, patients in the XZD group experienced significantly less pain on defecation on POD 2 (5.02±1.34 vs 5.43±1.56,P=0.0130), POD 7 (3.08±1.17 vs 3.52±1.29,P=0.0017) and POD 14 (2.31±0.85 vs 2.68±0.99,P=0.0004). Patients in the XZD group consumed significantly less analgesic medication on POD 2 (P=0.0136), POD 7 (P=0.0074) and POD 14 (P=0.0046) than the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
XZD could effectively relieve postoperative pain and reduce analgesic medication consumption after hemorrhoidectomy.
Department of General Surgery, First People's Hospital Affiliated to Huzhou Normal College, Huzhou, Zhejiang.
Jianbin
J
Shen
Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu.
Xiagang
X
Luo
Department of Orthopedics, People's Hospital of Zhangqiu, Jinan, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
Xiao
X
Zhou
Department of General Surgery, First People's Hospital Affiliated to Huzhou Normal College, Huzhou, Zhejiang.
Chengwu
C
Tang
Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu.
Huanyu
H
Ju
Department of General Surgery, First People's Hospital Affiliated to Huzhou Normal College, Huzhou, Zhejiang.
Yongqiang
Y
Xu
Department of General Surgery, First People's Hospital Affiliated to Huzhou Normal College, Huzhou, Zhejiang.
Lianjin
L
Qin
hemorrhoidectomy; hemorrhoids; posthemorrhoidectomy pain; traditional Chinese medicine