CRH O’Regan System
Invented by laparoscopic surgeon Dr. Patrick J. O’Regan, the CRH O’Regan System represents a significant advancement in rubber band ligation. CRH holds multiple patents for this next-generation device, which dramatically improves upon traditional instrumentation.
Notably, the CRH O’Regan System is the first entirely disposable, single-use device for hemorrhoid removal. Previous metal instruments were introduced in the 1950s and 1960s, before the advent of virulent, blood borne pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis B and C. Today they pose reprocessing challenges and concerns about cross-patient infection.
Cleared by the FDA in 1997, the CRH O’Regan System is 99.1% effective 1 and can treat approximately 95% of all hemorrhoid patients.
Hemorrhoid Classification
Class I – Hemorrhoid bleeds but doesn’t prolapse outside the anal canal
Class II – Prolapses, usually with defecation, but retracts spontaneously
Class III – Requires manual replacement into the anal canal after prolapsing
Class IV – Prolapsed tissue cannot be manually replaced and may be strangulated or thrombosed
A large 2005 prospective study (5,424 procedures) utilizing the CRH O’Regan System reported an extraordinarily low complication rate of 0.3%. 2 Post-band bleed occurred in 8 patients (0.15%), post-band pain in 3 patients (0.2%) and post-band thrombosis in 5 patients (0.3%.). No other complications were observed.
Compared to conventional rubber band ligation, these figures demonstrate a ten-fold reduction in complications. Beyond this significant advance, the results showed the CRH O’Regan System to have lower recurrence (4.8% at 2 years) than previous banding techniques (12%) 3 or even hemorrhoidectomy (5-8%). 4
It should be noted that patient compliance with dietary changes and recommended bowel habits may have marked influence on recurrence rates. We recommend the routine use of fiber supplementation in order to minimize the risk of recurrence in our patients.