First international expert meeting at Kreussler’s headquarter in Wiesbaden

The causes of hemorrhoidal disease and varicosis are multifactorial, however, in the etiology of both diseases a congenital weakness of connective tissue plays an important role. Therefore, it is not surprising that a new clinical study shows that half of the patients suffering from chronic venous insufficiency are also affected by hemorrhoidal disease.

Sclerotherapy with polidocanol is a good treatment option for both diseases. Regarding hemorrhoidal disease, sclerotherapy is especially used for the treatment of grade 1 and 2. For the treatment of larger varicose veins foamed sclerosants have been used for many years, as foam sclerotherapy has proved to be more efficacious than liquid polidocanol solution. Therefore, it was reasonable to ask if foam sclerotherapy could also be more efficacious in the treatment of hemorrhoidal disease.

The first reports on foam sclerotherapy of hemorrhoidal disease appeared as late as 2006. In the following years, Dr. Moser could prove, together with the German Colorectal Center in Mannheim, that foam sclerotherapy with 3% polidocanol was significantly more effective than with liquid polidocanol solution (88% versus 69%). After the second treatment session, the success rate was 98% with foam compared to 92% with liquid. Despite good treatment results many experts continued with liquid sclerotherapy, which remained an effective treatment option.

It was only in 2015 that the Italian experts returned to the subject and many studies with foam sclerotherapy in the treatment of hemorrhoidal disease grade 1 to 3 have been started in the following years.

For this reason Kreussler Pharma, as the world’s leading manufacturer of sclerosants, has initiated this first meeting focusing on hemorrhoidal disease with key opinion leaders from Germany, Italy, and Poland. The aim of the meeting was to find a consensus on the most important issues in the field of sclerotherapy. On the 18^th of January 2020, in the conference rooms of Kreussler, the experts discussed and summarized essential diagnostic measures and the best sclerotherapy techniques.

In the afternoon, the experts introduced their experiences with foam sclerotherapy and pointed out that higher grade hemorrhoidal disease may also be treated successfully with foam. At the end of the eventful day, all experts were united in their enthusiasm for sclerotherapy and felt sure that the results of this meeting will substantially contribute to optimize sclerotherapy and that especially patients will benefit from the results. The recommendations gathered during the meeting will be made available by Kreussler for interested doctors.