I had a Transanal Hemorrhoidal Dearterialization (THD) almost two weeks ago and this has been my experience so far:
I woke up after the procedure shaking from the intense pain. My nurse asked me my pain level from 1 to 10, 10 being worst and I said 10. She promptly injected two big doses of Demerol which quickly alleviated my pain. I fell back asleep and when I awoke I was moved to the recovery room where I was put on a reclining chair and given some graham crackers to snack on. I felt so drowsy from all of the medication that I fell asleep for about another 3 hours until one of the nurses woke me up gently saying "good morning!". She told me to go the bathroom and try to urinate. I couldn't urinate. She took me over to one of the recovery beds and said that they would perform an ultrasound on my bladder to see how full it was. It was half full, so urinating normally should have been easy. The nurse said that the bladder often "falls asleep" from the local anesthesia. She asked the doctor if she should put in a catheter and he said he wanted her to,as they would not allow me to drink anything or discharge me until I could urinate. I went to the bathroom to try urinating on my own in a last minute effort to avoid a catheterization but to no avail. So I told her I was ready and one of the LVNs dabbed my penis with iodine and inserted to catheter as i screamed a little bit from the horror of it, not to mention the discomfort and burning sensation as he drained my urine. I confess, however, this being my first catheter ever, It hurt less than I anticipated. Once I was drained, the catheter was removed and the nurses said congratulations and offered me drinks and more snacks. My post-operative meds, Percocet and Valium, were brought to me as I prepared to leave. My friend picked me up from the hospital and when I got home I immediately took 2 percocet, 1 valium, 3 bisacodyl, and 3 Tablespoons of Mineral Oil. I fell asleep for a while and got up a few times to pee. It wasn't until the next day that I started to feel the urge to have a bowel movement. I had the sensation that I needed to go badly but only gas and anal leakage was coming out. By the third day I was feeling very bloated and uncomfortable, having to run to the toilet frequently but still only having gas and fecal leakage. I passed the gel foam pack while having gas. However I was getting nervous about having no bowel movement for 3 days and feeling so bloated, so I decided to go to the Emergency Room as a precaution to be given magnesium citrate and an enema to finally relieve myself. After a few attempt to flush my rectum with the enema liquid, I squatted and eveything came out. I felt relief like you can't believe. I went home and took a shower. All the while, I was taking my pain percocets and managing the pain to a level of only mild discomfort. After a few more days of being on percocet and taking laxatives to combat the constipation it would otherwise cause, I switched to ibuprofen, four of them at a time as needed. Yesterday, I had a bowel movement and saw one of the sutures in the toilet, which apparently is normal. My pain at this point is not totally gone but minimal. It feels like my hemorrhoids are gone but I won't be sure for a few more weeks I think. It still hurts when I laugh or cough. My surgeon said that I would be completely healed in two months. So far, I'm very happy that I've had this surgery after being irritated by my hemorrhoids for years. I wish I had known about THD years ago! The temporary pain and discomfort has been well worth it so far. Tell me about your experience or ask me any questions you might have.
Thank you for sharing your experience. .. I appreciate it so much. I'm having my surgery this Friday the 13th and I am petrified! keep us posted please. Speedy recovery!
Hi. Please don't be petrified. I'm so glad that I had the surgery. My pain has been managed fairly well throughout my recovery, and now you can be less anxious knowing what to expect along the way. 
Please let me know how your surgery goes. Thanks for the well wishes. Take care.
How long was your procedure? How long total with recovery time until you were released? I will be "outpatient " wondering estimate of time I'll be there. Also I was wondering if you had / have much of an appetite and what you've been eating. Thanks so much!
I'll do my best to figure out how long the actual procedure was. Also, I think just about everyone who gets this procedure is outpatient. I think you would only be admitted to the hospital on an inpatient basis if something went terribly wrong, which is highly unlikely. I checked in at the hospital at 5:30AM, I was prepped and wheeled into the operating room at 7:30AM. They put me to sleep a few minutes after being wheeled in there. I think I was revived around 8:30AM so, the procedure itself only lasts about an hour, maybe even less? When I was in the recovery chair, I woke up at one point feeling nauseous and told the nurse. She brought me a vomit bag, put cold towels on my neck and forehead, as well as anti-nausea medicated patch behind my ear, which worked really well. After sleeping and getting catheterized, I left around 1PM. I would have loved to have just been allowed to sleep as long as I wanted in the recovery room but it seems like they want to get you on your way as soon as they reasonably can. I think the key to a quick departure home is being able to pee as soon as possible thereafter, because once I did, they were ready to discharge me. I live in San Diego, and the nurses at my hospital were so caring and attentive. I was very impressed with the care.
As for my appetite, it has been totally normal. I have been eating Kellogg's All-Bran cereal every morning in addition to the colace since the procedure just to make sure that my stools are soft.
Theresa dont be scared, if you prepare yourself it will be a piece of cake,if you surgery is Friday, start drinking alot of water and eating alot of fiber, reason being is that you want your first couple of b.m. to be when you are still localized I promise it is not as bad as people say..If your able to read this post take these measures...
1st hydration and fiber
2nd sidz bath
3rd detachable showerhead
4th pain killers
5th nyquil or zquil
After surgery drink alot I mean alot of water, eat spinach,melons,whole grain cereals and oatmeals, absolutely nothing with flour, and no dairy except for milk in cereal, no cheese....
If you have your first couple of b.m. while on local you will do fine. For the 1st week or 2 have your b.m. in the sidz than gently rinse your backside with warm water from showerhead, if you keep up with hydration you could eat all the pain candy you want with no constipation, keep a good schedule for when you sleep that's where the nyquil comes in, you will do fine, but please dont be one of these people that wait 5 to 10 ten days to have a b.m. we are all with you... you got this!!!
Thank you! Not long now...am ready to get it over with, my anxiety is killing me. I soo appreciate the advice and will use it ☺ I will update along my journey. ~T
I had my surgery 4 days ago Friday the 13th ! And I've not only survived but I feel a lot better than I was expecting this soon after! Thank you so much for all the advice everyone I'm following it all and know it is making the difference. I know I have a long way to go yet but am so glad the initial anxiety has passed and I can concentrate on healing now. ☺
Great to hear. What was your experience like upon waking up from anesthesia and being in the recovery room?
I recall feeling great, everything was so numb!I was still getting oxygen. . I was both thirsty *very.. and hungry as well. My nurses were absolutely wonderful. .. I had my surgery in Annapolis, Maryland. I stayed numb for a good while even after I got home.only in hospital for a few hours. When I got home a terrible sore throat started to settle in... just subsided today really. I'm 5 days in now. Still extremely painful..bm's the worst!! I have "messed" myself a few times, sitz, shower,ice,and perineal spray bottle are my best friends.How is everyone else doing?
Oh yeah, and Desitin baby butt cream...works great! Btw, I had removal of both internal and external hemorrhoids as well as sphincterectomy for fissure repair also removal of large anal tag 😨
how long did the urgency to have constant BM's last? Im on day 12 post op and this is the only side effect that is driving me crazy
What is THD??? I need surgery and have been looking at HALO as an option to standard hemmoroidectomy. I am hyper sensitive to pain so if you feel a 5, I'll be at 10. I'm sooooooooo scared about all this procedures based solely on the post op pain. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to deal with it. I'm not kidding. Would THD work for stage 3 - 4 internal hemorrhoids??? Thanks!!!
I had THD Surgery Sept. 20th 2021...Please Read Before you have this surgery!
Most important take-aways if you can't read the whole thing:
1. TAKE LAXATIVES FOR 4-5 DAYS POST-OP. If you don't you will be sorry (see below).
2. EAT LIGHTLY BEFORE AND AFTER SURGERY. My doctors said I could eat a regular diet once my pain subsided but DON"T DO IT!
3. IF YOU ARE A MAN TAKE FLOWMAX BEFORE AND AFTER. It will totally help you urinate and avoid being catheterized.
4. ASK YOUR ANAESTHESIOLOGIST FOR IV ANTI NAUSEA MEDS BEFORE YOU WAKE UP
Pre-Op: I was worried about constipation complications so I started a mainly liquid diet 2 days before my surgery. Per my surgeon I did not do any colon cleanse but did 2 enemas at home the morning before the surgery. I also started taking flowmax 2 weeks before the surgery and had enough to take for 2 weeks after to prevent urinary retention. Those pills work great! I was worried about the anesthesia since I had never had general or been intubated before, so I asked the anaesthesiologist to give me anti nausea drugs (Zofran) and not to use NO2 which he did and I had no problems. When we got to the OR I was surprised they tied down my arms out to the side just before knocking me out. I don't remember anything after that until recovery. My surgery took about an hour and a half and I was a little woozy and dizzy for a bit but actually recovered faster than I thought.
Post-Op: My surgeon injected local blocks and inserted numbing gel into the area so I only had 5/10 pain in the 24 hours after the surgery. When that wore off the pain went up to 7-8/10. I had asked for Tramadol instead of oxycodone because Tramadol is not as addictive or strong and one pill every 6 hours managed my pain as long as I stayed lying on my stomach. My first day urinating was difficult so I'm glad I took the flowmax. I was taking 2-3 stool softeners/day and miralax, and eating lightly (soup, scrambled eggs, dry toast, cereal). I took 2 warm baths each day.
My surgery pain started to reduce by day 3, but I was becoming constipated and the pressure from the constipation on the sutures and what I would later learn was a completely obstructed anal sphincter become unbearable on days 4 and 5 - no sleep, no eating, writhing in pain so ended up in the ER weeping in agony! They gave me delaudid which took the edge off but not completely. I was admitted to the hospital and had to stay for 3 days on heavy laxatives and pain meds. I was only released after 2 days of violent diarrhea and almost no sleep. I came back home on day 7 and now have to stay on milk of magnesia and miralax every day for another week and a light diet while the swelling decreases.
Damm. I had my open hemorrhoidectomy for stage 3 internal hemorrhoids and a mucosal prolapse and I was expecting it to be a million times worse. I woke up post-op in unbelievable pain. So much so they had to give me 4 loads of fentanyl, 3 loads of Toradol, 3 loads of Oxycodone and I was still squirming in pain. My wife had to leave the room because she said it was so uncomfortable to watch me tearing and squirming like that she couldn't take it. They than gave me 2 doses of Ketamine and that finally helped ALOT. Within an hour, I was stabilized and feeling no pain. My surgeon used both a "short acting" and a "long acting / Exparel" local anestitic throughout my wound down there and pudential block. I walked to the bathroom, urinated without any problems and than walked out of the hospital. The Exparel was now kicking in and I couldn't feel a thing down there for around 60 hours. It was WONDERFUL. I ended up working out for 2.5 hours that night and mowed the lawn and worked out again the following day, Friday. I still had zero pain. Couldn't feel ANYTHING down there. But come Saturday afternoon, the Exparel started to wear off and I started to really feel pain by Saturday night. Sunday and Monday were pretty miserable and I was taking straight Oxycodone every 6 hours. But by late Tuesday, I felt a lot better and Wednesday I no longer required any pain med's and haven't since. I've was taking Dulcolax and Colace but hadn't had a BM for 3 days. So I drank a full bottle of Magnesium Citrate and still didn't "go". Finally I took several doses of Milk of Magnesia and finally, Sunday Morning I had my 1st BM since surgery. I had to push a bunch to get it out and it freaking hurt like hell, but once this hard stool came out, everything just flew out as a loose stool. I was never so happy to have a loose, watery, stool in my life. It was done quickly and wasn't as bad as expected. To be honest, I would've gone back to work last week, about 6 days post surgery if it wasn't for this deep, wound that goes from inside my anal canal to about 3/4 of an inch outside my anus. This deep wound is from the mucosal tissue that needed to be excised. This still hurts and is taking some time to heal. I'm still able to mow the lawn and work out but my job is physically challenging and I couldn't go back to work yet. But overall, my hemorrhoidectomy and mucousal prolapse surgery was wayyyyyy easier than I ever imagined.
hi. thank you for sharing your experience. i had THD surgery 10 days ago. for something that is classed as non invasive, i felt VERY invaded and the post op pain was REAL.
what I am struggling with is lower back/coccyx pain that's not eleviated with paracetamol or anti inflammatories. it was the first thing i felt in recovery and has been a constant.
I'm on still on stool softeners (as the musculoskeletal pain is too much when I'm not taking them). I'm not swimming yet...and i love swimming :(
has anyone else experienced similar and how did u manage this?
Thanks
B
Hey, i know this was written a while ago but what was the answer to this? im currently on day 9 and experiencing the same. When does this feeling end?