[Ointment treatment of 1st degree hemorrhoids. Comparison of the effectiveness of a phytogenic preparation with two new ointments containing synthetic drugs].
OBJECTIVES: Investigation of the usefulness of a vegetable-based hemorrhoid ointment in comparison with two other ointments containing synthetic substances, one of which additionally contained corticoid. STUDY DESIGN: Treatment of 90 patients with first-degree hemorrhoids in the surgical department of a University Polyclinic, within the framework of a double-blind three-limb study of 21 days duration. Follow-up examinations on the third, seventh, fourteenth and twenty-first day of treatment. TARGET CRITERIA: Four typical symptoms--pruritus, bleeding, burning sensation, sore sensation--graded by both physician and patient. RESULTS: All three ointments proved highly effective. Both during the course of treatment and at the final examination carried out on the 21st day, no major differences were to be found between the three treatment groups. In the case of some of the test parameters, a positive tendency in favor of the herbal ointment was observed.