Ulcerative Colitis
Symptoms:
- Diarrhoea containing blood, mucous or pus
- Urgency to go to the toilet with increased frequency
- Abdominal pain
- The severity of the symptoms depends on the degree and extent of inflammation
Investigations:
- Blood tests
- Stool analysis
- Colonoscopy
Treatment:
- Mainstay of treatment is medical with drugs.
- Surgery is indicated where disease is not controlled by medications or patient starts getting serious side effects of medical treatment.
- Ulcerative Colitis has a small but definite risk of developing bowel cancer. This risk depends on the duration, extent and severity of inflammation.
- The surgery for UC usually involves removal of all the large bowel (Total colectomy) with an ileostomy (stoma) formation. Some patients can have a reconstructive operation to restore bowel continuity (ileo-anal pouch).
- The surgery for UC can be performed with laparoscopic approach (Keyhole).
