[Ulcerative colitis in Taichung Veterans General Hospital: a clinical study]

This report concerns 34 patients of ulcerative colitis admitted to Taichung Veterans General Hospital, from 1983 to 1994. Among them 26 were male and 8 were female. The age at onset were mostly from 50 to 60. The average duration between onset of symptoms and the date of definite diagnosis was 10 months. The most common presenting symptom was bloody diarrhea (64.7%). Most of our patients were in the moderately severe group of disease (67.6%), according to the severity defined by Truelove and Witts. The most frequent endoscopic findings of mucosa was classified as Grade III (38.2). Descending colon (91.2), rectum (85.3%), and sigmoid colon (88.2%) were the most frequently involved areas. The major clinical course were chronic intermittent and chronic continuous type (55.9%). Extraintestinal manifestations were found in 2 cases: one was found in the skin, and the other in the joint, respectively. Treatment of ulcerative colitis in our series was mainly medical (91.2%). However, 3 patients received emergent surgical intervention, and 10 patients finally underwent operation because of major complications or failure to respond to medical treatment.