Comparison of Ischemic Colitis in the Young and the Elderly

Ischemic colitis is traditionally known as a disease of the elderly; however, its recognition among the young recently has increased. The aim of this study was to illustrate the features of ischemic colitis in a younger population.

Medical records of patients with ischemic colitis from January 2007 to January 2013 were reviewed. The study was conducted in 2 hospitals, and the patients were divided into 2 groups: < 50 and ≥ 50 years old.

A total of 118 patients with ischemic colitis were identified. Fifteen patients (12.7%) were < 50 years of age; 103 patients (87.3%) were ≥ 50 years old. While drugs and vasculitis—as a group—was the most common precipitating factor for ischemic colitis in the younger age group, constipation was the most common precipitating factor in the older age group. All patients in the younger group had rectal bleeding vs 70.9% in the older group (P = 0.009). History of coronary artery disease, dyslipidemia, and hypertension were higher in the older group. Length of hospital stay was shorter in the younger group (3.4 days) than the older group (7.2 days).

In this study, 12.7% of the patients were under age 50. All patients in this “young” age group experienced rectal bleeding and their hospital stay was shorter.