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Anal fissure history and symptoms

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Amandeep Singh M.D.[2]

Overview

Overview

Patients with anal fissure have a history of painful bowel movements and bleeding per rectum which can be seen as blood on tissue paper following a bowel movement. They usually have a history of constipation too but also some patients may report frequent episodes of watery diarrhea.They also have symptoms of painful defecation.Some patients may also have associated itching and irritation.

History and Symptoms

History and Symptoms

  • A positive history of anal fissures includes painful bowel movements and bleeding per rectum. There may be blood on the outside of the stool or on the toilet tissue (or baby wipes) following a bowel movement.[1][2]

History

Patients with anal fissure may have a positive history of:

Common Symptoms

Common symptoms of an anal fissure include:

  • Painful defecation
    • The character of the pain is tearing, ripping or burning
    • The pain occurs especially 1-2 hours after defecation[3]
  • Fresh blood in the stools
    • Color- bright red
    • Volume- usually small

Less Common Symptoms

Less common symptoms of anal fissure include:

References

References

  1. Beaty JS, Shashidharan M (2016). “Anal Fissure”. Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 29 (1): 30–7. doi:10.1055/s-0035-1570390. PMC 4755763. PMID 26929749.
  2. Schlichtemeier S, Engel A (2016). “Anal fissure”. Aust Prescr. 39 (1): 14–7. doi:10.18773/austprescr.2016.007. PMC 4816871. PMID 27041801.
  3. Nelson RL (2014). “Anal fissure (chronic)”. BMJ Clin Evid. 2014. PMC 4229958. PMID 25391392.

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