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Benign Anorectal: Anal Fissure

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Book cover The ASCRS Textbook of Colon and Rectal Surgery

Abstract

An anal fissure, or fissure-in-ano, is an oval, ulcer-like, longitudinal tear in the anal canal, distal to the dentate line. Although the exact incidence is unknown, it is a common disorder, with equal gender distribution. Fissures can occur at any age, but are usually seen in younger and middle-aged adults. In almost 90% of cases, fissures are identified in the posterior midline, but can be seen in the anterior midline in up to 25% of affected women and 8% of affected men. An additional 3% of patients have both anterior and posterior fissures. Fissures occurring in lateral positions should raise suspicions for other disease processes, such as Crohn’s disease, tuberculosis, syphilis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/ acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), or anal carcinoma (Figure 12-1).

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Authors
  1. Sharon L. Dykes
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  2. Robert D. Madoff
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Surgery, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Chairman, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Mayo Clinic Foundation, Rochester, MN, USA

    Bruce G. Wolff MD, FASCRS (Senior Editors) (Senior Editors)

  2. Professor of Surgery, Chief, Section of Colorectal Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

    James W. Fleshman MD, FASCRS (Senior Editors) (Senior Editors)

  3. Chairman, Department of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans, LA, USA

    David E. Beck MD, FASCRS (Senior Editors) (Senior Editors)

  4. Professor of Surgery, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Consultant, Colon and Rectal Surgery, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, MN, USA

    John H. Pemberton MD, FASCRS (Senior Editors) (Senior Editors)

  5. Chief of Staff, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, FL, USA

    Steven D. Wexner MD, FASCRS (Senior Editors) (Senior Editors)

  6. Victor W. Fazio Chair of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, USA

    James M. Church BSc, MBChB, MMed Sci, FASCRS (Associate Editors) (Associate Editors)

  7. Professor of Surgery, Chief, Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Julio Garcia-Aguilar MD, PhD, FASCRS (Associate Editors) (Associate Editors)

  8. Department of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Lahey Clinic, Burlington, MA, USA

    Patricia L. Roberts MD, FASCRS (Associate Editors) (Associate Editors)

  9. Professor of Surgery, Head, Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA

    Theodore J. Saclarides MD, FASCRS (Associate Editors) (Associate Editors)

  10. Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange, CA, USA

    Michael J. Stamos MD, FASCRS (Associate Editors) (Associate Editors)

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© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Dykes, S.L., Madoff, R.D. (2007). Benign Anorectal: Anal Fissure. In: Wolff, B.G., et al. The ASCRS Textbook of Colon and Rectal Surgery. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36374-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36374-5_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-24846-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-36374-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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