Clove oil cream: a new effective treatment for chronic anal fissure.

OBJECTIVE

Anal fissure is a common painful condition affecting the anal canal and causes considerable morbidity and reduction in quality of life. Surgical treatment has been associated with a degree of incontinence in up to 30% of patients. This study discussed the results of clove oil 1% cream in healing of chronic anal fissure.

METHOD

A single-blind randomized comparative trial was setup to compare traditional treatment with stool softeners and lignocaine cream 5% against clove oil 1% cream for 6 weeks.

RESULTS

55 patients were included in this study, 30 patients in clove oil group and 25 patients in control group. Healing had occurred in 60% of patients in clove oil group and in 12% of patients in the control group after 3-month follow up (P < 0.001). Patients in clove oil group showed significant reduction in resting anal pressure and almost all other anorectal manometric pressures compared with patients in control group.

CONCLUSION

Topical application of clove oil cream demonstrated a significant beneficial effect when applied to patients suffering from chronic anal fissure.