Purpose: To establish the necessity of routine histopathologic examination of specimens from hemorrhoids and anal fistula that are diagnosed preoperatively.
Methods: We reviewed histopathologic reports from hemorrhoidectomy and anal fistula excision operations performed between 2007 and 2011 in the sixth affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and Guangdong Province Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital. We evaluated the incidence of unexpected pathologic malignancy and its impact on postoperative management.
Results: Among the 10532 patients recruited, 8308 had undergone hemorrhoidectomy and 2224 had undergone excision of an anal fistula. Unexpected pathologic malignancy was discovered in 17 specimens (0.16 %). Overall and subgroup analysis for risk factors of malignant detection revealed unexpected pathologic malignancy was more likely to be found in people over the age of 60 years (OR = 5.516, P = 0.002 overall and OR = 5.442, P = 0.007 for hemorrhoids).
Conclusion: Routine histopathologic examination of specimens from patients undergoing hemorrhoid or anal fistula surgery is of value for identifying unexpected pathologic malignancy. An age older than 60 years may be a remarkable risk factor.