Abstract:Objective To investigate the effect of the number of ligation points on postoperative adverse events and efficacy of endoscopic ligation for internal hemorrhoids.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 129 patients with grade Ⅰ~Ⅲ internal hemorrhoids treated by endoscopic ligation from January 2020 to June 2021. According to the number of ligation points, the two groups were divided into basic ligation group (n = 51, ligation 2 and 3 points) and multi-point ligation group (n = 78, ligation 4 ~ 7 points), and the differences in clinical efficacy and postoperative complications between the two groups were observed.Results Clinical efficacy: the effective rate of basic ligation group was 88.24% (45/51), compared with multi-point ligation group of 94.87% (74/78), the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Subgroup results were displayed, there was no statistical difference in efficacy of grade I internal hemorrhoids between the two groups (P > 0.05). For grade Ⅱ and Ⅲ hemorrhoids, the incidence of postoperative pain and effective rate in multi-point ligation group were higher than those in basic ligation group (P < 0.05). Postoperative adverse events: within 48 h after surgery, 73 patients experienced anal distension, 39 patients experienced pain of varying degrees, 18 patients experienced dysuria, and 1 patient experienced a small amount of bleeding. The incidence of pain and dysuria was higher in multi-point ligation group than in basic ligation group (P < 0.05).Conclusion In endoscopic ligation for internal hemorrhoids, the increase of ligation sites may increase the risk of postoperative pain and dysuria. For grade Ⅰ hemorrhoids, increasing the number of ligation sites does not improve the outcome, but increases the risk of postoperative pain, and multiple ligation should be avoided as far as possible. For hemorrhoids of grade Ⅱ and Ⅲ, increasing the ligation site can improve the effective rate.