[Surgical treatment of ulcerative colitis]

Known indications in the surgical treatment of ulcerative colitis are acute severe attacks, intractability, and cancer prophylaxis. This study was performed to determine the optimum timing of operation in ulcerative colitis. Of 59 patients with intractability, 9(15%) had severe attacks and 6(10%) developed colorectal cancer. The mean duration of disease was 3.6 yr for 14 with severe attacks alone, 6 yr for 44 with intractability alone, 8.6 yr for 9 with both, and 16.5 yr for 16 with cancer prophylaxis. In this series, the operations for intractable disease were more likely to be delayed, and the longer these were delayed, the higher the rate was of pre- and postoperative complications.