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Ulcerative Colitis

Etny Raul Candelario, MD, MS and Maureen Alvarado, D.O. Reviewed 06/2022
 


BASICS

DESCRIPTION

  • Ulcerative colitis (UC), one of the two inflammatory bowel disease, is a chronic disease characterized by diffuse mucosal inflammatory changes limited to the colon.

  • Most cases involve...

DIAGNOSIS

HISTORY

  • Symptoms may include:

    • Small frequent bloody or mucoid diarrhea associated with tenesmus, rectal urgency, fecal incontinence and abdominal pain, onset is gradual and progressive over we...

TREATMENT

  • Disease severity (Table 1) and extent (i.e. proctitis, left-sided colitis vs extensive colitis) dictate induction and maintenance treatment (1).

  • Goals of treatment are to restore normal bowe...

ONGOING CARE

Management of patient with severe acute ulcerative colitis (ASUC) (1): 

REFERENCES

1
Rubin DT, Ananthakrishnan AN, Siegel CA, Sauer BG, Long MD. ACG Clinical Guideline: Ulcerative Colitis in Adults. Am J Gastroenterol. 2019 Mar;114(3):384-413. 
2
Molod...

ADDITIONAL READING

LeBlanc  K, Mosli  MH, Parker  CE, et al. The impact of biological interventions for ulcerative colitis on health-related quality of life. Cochrane Database Sys...

SEE ALSO

Algorithm: Hematemesis (Bleeding, Upper Gastrointestinal) 

CODES

ICD10

  • K51.90 Ulcerative colitis, unspecified, without complications

  • K51.919 Ulcerative colitis, unspecified with unspecified complications

  • K51.80 Other ulcerative colitis without complications

  • K51.0...

CLINICAL PEARLS

  • Diffuse, uninterrupted colonic mucosal inflammation

  • The hallmark symptom is bloody diarrhea.

  • Common medical treatments include 5-ASA, steroids, and anti-TNF-alpha therapy. 

  • Refractory di...

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