In many cases a perianal hematoma is misdiagnosed as an External Hemorrhoid. How do you know that what you have and what is a perianal hematoma and not an External Hemorrhoid?
First of all a hematoma is basically a bruise, a pooling of blood in the tissues outside blood vessels. A perianal hematoma is a hematoma on the border of the anus; this is often referred to as an External Hemorrhoid. A perianal hematoma is caused by the rupture of a vein in or around the anus, this may happen during lifting something heavy or even coughing.
The blood can be removed after a short period of time by a syringe, however if left too long the blood will clot making this form of treatment impossible. Once a clot has formed, simple surgery under local anesthesia can be used to remove it manually. Usually an incision caused in this manner is not stitched and is instead left to heal on its own. This is fine because such surgical wounds heal up completely.
Extreme care needs to be taken when having a perianal hematoma removed surgically, not to allow any bacteria from passing fecal matter to get in the wound. This can lead to all sorts of infections; which means either more surgery and more risks, or digestive complications that can arise from taking too many antibiotics.
You may not know whether or not you have a perianal hematoma or an External Hemorrhoid, in fact hemorrhoids are also commonly diagnosed in the place of fissures (tear in the skin), fistula, or anal melanomas (malignant tumor of melanocytes).
See your doctor if you have any question as to whether you have hemorrhoids or something else.
