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When patients are admitted to the hospital with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis or Crohn colitis, attempts often are made to treat them medically and to save the colon. However, the merits of this approach versus possibly curative surgery are unclear. In this British study, researchers evaluated outcomes in more than 17,000 English patients who were hospitalized with ulcerative colitis or Crohn colitis for at least 3 days between April 1998 and March 2000. Systematic follow-up of deaths was continued through March 2003.
Approximately 15% of patients underwent elective colectomy, and 10% underwent emergency colectomy. Mortality rates at 3 years after elective colectomy for ulcerative colitis or Crohn colitis (3.7% and 3.3%, respectively…