Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn ’s Disease Have Similar Burden and Goals for Treatment

It is unclear whether ulcerative colitis (UC) is a progressive disease similar to Crohn ’s disease (CD). Patients with UC often are undertreated because of the possibility of curative colectomy and the perception that the disease burden is lower than that of CD. We discuss findings from studies that aimed to determine whether UC and CD have the same disease burden and should be treat ed in the same intensive way. We discuss the similarities between CD and UC, including effects on quality of life, long-term complications, strictures, increased risk of cancer, pseudopolyps, functional abnormalities, and anorectal dysfunction.

Source: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology - July 9, 2019 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Catherine Le Berre, Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, Silvio Danese, Siddharth Singh, Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet Tags: Narrative review Source Type: research