BVA9500193 
DOCKET NO.  93-02 213     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in New York, New
York

THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to service connection for residuals of a right
hand injury.

2.  Entitlement to an increased disability evaluation for status
post hemorrhoidectomy and fissurectomy with anal sphincter
relaxation, currently evaluated as 10 percent disabling.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans

WITNESSES AT HEARING ON APPEAL

Appellant

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

J.W. Engle, Counsel

REMAND

The veteran had active duty from March 1948 to April 1952.

To ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has met
its duty to assist the claimant in developing the facts pertinent
to the claim and to ensure full compliance with due process
requirements, the case is REMANDED to the regional office for the
following development:

1.  The appellant should be requested to
clarify all issues he desires to pursue.
All issues identified should be developed
and adjudicated.

2.  The veteran should be afforded a VA
orthopedic and proctologic examinations to
determine the presence of residuals of a
right hand injury and the nature and extent
of the service-connected status post
hemorrhoidectomy and fissurectomy with anal
sphincter relaxation.  The claims folder
should be made available to the examiner
for review before the examination.  All
appropriate tests should be conducted.

3.  The proctologic examiner should comment
on the presence or absence of an anal
fissure or a hemorrhoid, internal or
external, as well as any postoperative
residuals of either a fissurectomy or
hemorrhoidectomy, and if so, their nature
and severity.  The appellant should also be
carefully examined for the presence of
impaired anal sphincter control, and if
present, the examiner should discuss its
most likely etiology in light of the
superimposed rectal diseases.

Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board, if in
order.  The Board intimates no opinion as to the ultimate outcome
of this case.  The appellant need take no action unless otherwise
notified.

          C.P. RUSSELL
          Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals

The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures
Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___
(1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be
assigned to an individual member of the Board for a
determination.  This proceeding has been assigned to an
individual member of the Board.

Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States
Court of Veterans Appeals.  This remand is in the nature of a
preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board
on the merits of your appeal.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1993).