title: Chronic anal fissures: Open lateral internal sphincterotomy result; a case series study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anal fissure are defined as a tear in the skin of the anal canal distal to dentate line. Although still there are controversies about the exact management, lateral sphincterotomy is promising. The aim of this series is to present the outcome of lateral sphincterotomy for internal anal sphincter in term of patient satisfaction and complication.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective single cohort study, 190 patients, who were undergone lateral sphincterotomy for internal anal sphincter from 2010 to 2014, were analyzed. The operation was performed as a day case procedure. The median duration of follow up was 5 years (ranging from 3 to 6). The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social sciences (SPSS) version 22. Descriptive statistic was used to describe findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty three males (22.6%) and 147 females (77.4%) with a mean ± SD of age of 31.19 ± 7.78 years. Constipation was reported in 152 (80%) patients, bleeding in 131 (68.6%) cases, and pain in 142 (74.7%) patients. The median duration of the disease was 20 months (ranging from 1 to 30 months). Post-operatively, patient satisfaction was high (98.4%) with only 3 cases (1.6%) of recurrence. Conclusion: lateral sphincterotomy for internal anal sphincter, along, is the procedure of choice for management of CAF because it is effective and it can cure the disease in nearly all patients with good patient satisfaction.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Department Surgery, University of Sulaimani, François Mitterrand Street, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, Iraq.
authors.forename: Abdulwahid M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Salih
keywords: Chronic anal fissure; Internal anal sphincter; Lateral sphincterotomy