[Indications for surgery in ulcerative colitis. Some aspects of a hospital case load]

From 1.1.1985 to 1.1.1992, 233 patients with ulcerative colitis were treated in the Medical Department, Aker Hospital. 30 patients (12.9%) were referred for surgery. The main indications for surgery were severe colitis and chronic persisting symptoms. The increased risk of developing colorectal carcinoma in cases of long-standing extensive ulcerative colitis is generally accepted. Many of our unoperated patients belong to this risk group. In the present sample the resection rate was lower than recently reported from Sweden and Denmark. Symptomatic patients in the risk group for developing colorectal carcinoma should be offered surgery more liberally, and asymptomatic patients in this group should be offered colonoscopic surveillance.