Anal Fissure

I posted a question last week about my mums rising CA125 from 12 to 21. She has several anal fissures which are very sore at the moment, and I am a bit confused as to what they are. Could you tell me what they are, what they are caused by and is there anything she can do to ease them.

Could the anal fissures cause the rise in her CA125?

Thanks in advance for your time.

[Annekathryn Goodman, M.D.]

Dear Ang,
It is possible that some inflammation causes a variation in the CA 125.
I have pasted this directly from a nice summary by Dr Thomas Sokol:
An anal fissure is a cut or tear occurring in the anus (the opening through which stool passes out of the body) that extends upwards into the anal canal. Fissures are a common condition of the anus and anal canal  Fissures usually cause pain during bowel movements that often is severe.

Anal fissures occur in the specialized tissue that lines the anus and anal canal, called anoderm. At a line just inside the anus--referred to as the anal verge or intersphincteric groove--the skin (dermis) of the inner buttocks changes to anoderm. Unlike skin, anoderm has no hairs, sweat glands, or sebaceous (oil) glands and contains a larger number of somatic sensory nerves that sense light touch and pain. (The abundance of nerves explains why anal fissures are so painful.) The hairless, gland-less, extremely sensitive anoderm continues for the entire length of the anal canal until it meets the demarcating line for the rectum, called the dentate line. (The rectum is the distal 15 cm of the colon that lies just above the anus and rectum and just below the sigmoid colon.)

As far as treatment: lots of stool softeners and local care. Local care includes sitz baths, and  lidocaine jelly as a pain reliever.

best wishes