The importance of topical metronidazole in the treatment of acute anal fissure: a double-blind study controlled for prospective randomization.

Purpose: Acute anal fissure, a disease characterized by severe pain in the anorectal area, reduces quality of life and becomes chronic absent appropriate treatment. More recently, anaerobic infections have been noted as contributive to etiopathogenesis. This study investigates topical metronidazole's effect in the treatment of acute anal fissure.