Introduction Surgical treatment of hemorrhoidal disease is used in about 5–10% of cases where conservative treatments have not been effective.
Objective To learn the surgical techniques used in the treatment of hemorrhoidal disease grades III and IV in the light of literature.
Methods This is an exploratory study, with an integrative review of literature published from 2009 to 2015 from databases LILACS, SciELO, MEDLINE, PUBMED and the Portal of CAPES, using the following descriptors: “hemorrhoidectomy” and “hemorrhoids”, in the period from March to May 2015.
Results Nineteen articles were selected. In the four more described techniques, the surgical time ranged from 19.58 to 52 min, with relapses from 5%, from 17.5 to 35 min and recurrences of 7.5% to 8.2%, 23–35 min was 20% and 22.5% relapse, 12.5 and 13.2 min, 3.5% of relapses.
Conclusion Conventional techniques are still the most commonly performed with a good acceptance on the long-term resolution and low recurrence rate.