Surgery linked to improved survival rates for ulcerative colitis patients

Editor's Note

Ulcerative colitis patients who have surgery to treat their disease live longer than those who are treated with medications, this study finds.

Analyzing Medicare/Medicaid data on nearly 33,000 patients with ulcerative colitis, mortality rates were 34/1,000 person-years for colectomy and 54/1,000 person-years for medical therapy, thus showing that elective colectomy was associated with an improved survival rate.

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease that most physicians treat with medications rather than surgery. The new findings highlight a potential unrecognized advantage of a surgical approach to the disease.