Preserving the ascending colon as an alternative surgical option in ulcerative colitis

Six patients with ulcerative colitis were studied to assess the histologic appearance of the ascending colon which was preserved at the initial operation performed more than ten years previous. Inflammatory cells were increased in all patients, but ulceration was not present microscopically. Most patients had less than five bowel movements a day. Because of good long term survival of the mucosa, wider use of a surgical approach is proposed, based upon excising the colonic mucosa most prone to ulceration and metabolic derangement. The procedure entails subtotal colectomy, mucosectomy of the rectal mucosa and preservation of the ascending colon as a neorectum. Prime advantages are the lack of a stoma and fewer bowel movements than result from other operations.