Highlight text to provide feedback
| Disease found: | Ulcerative colitis |
| Current as of: | October 8, 2024 |
| Disease Overview: | Inflammatory bowel disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the large intestine and rectum [more info] |
| Signs and Symptoms: | Change in stool frequency, watery diarrhea with blood/mucus/pus, abdominal bloating, discomfort, cramping, pain, rectal bleeding. Severe cases may have bloody and violent diarrhea, high fever and chills, leukocytosis, dehydration, and weight loss. |
| Diagnosis: | Clinical diagnosis based on symptom onset and severity can be adjuncted with lab tests for inflammation, anemia, and blood in the stool. Commonly, patients receive a colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy to assess the extent of disease. |
| Treatment: | Control inflammation, manage symptoms, replace fluids/nutrients, and prevent episode recurrence. FDA approved medications include infliximab (Remicade), aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, balsalazide (Colazal), and mesalamine (Asacol) to target inflammation. Adalimumab (Humira) was recently approved in 2012 for refractory cases of UC. |
| Clinical Management: | Supportive care for symptomatic management. |
| Referral: | Gastroenterologists; primary care physicians are helpful in diagnosis and management. The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation has a database of doctors qualified to treat patients with this disease [more info].Referral to Medical Genetics Department, if available. Initial virtual care is also available through organizations like TeleRare Health. |
| Clinical Trials: | Many clinical trials are currently recruiting |