[Surgical treatment of colitis (author's transl)]

The main reason for poor results in treatment of ulcerative colitis may be found in the well-meant hesitation of the clinician to ask for surgical intervention. 233 cases are discussed, particularly the absolute and relative indications for surgery. For complicated cases of colitis, as well as for the so-called "colitic invalid" only operative treatment with an ileostomy offers optimal results. The high mortality of toxic megacolon as a consequence of the acute form of ulcerative colitis is discussed. The high post-operative mortality as a result of toxic mega-colon was significantly reduced by Turnbull's substitution of a multi-stage operation for the formerly used one-stage technique.