Clinical investigation of 41 patients with ischemic colitis accompanied by ulcer

AIM: To investigate the relationship among the presence of ulcer lesions, underlying disease, and clinical course in patients with ischemic colitis. METHODS: The subjects were 41 patients (10 male and 31 female; mean age 70 years) with ischemic colitis who were admitted to and received treatment in our hospital from 2000 to 2006. We compared their characteristics and analyzed the mean lengths of admission and fasting for 9 patients with ulcer lesions (ulcer group) and 32 without (non-ulcer group). RESULTS: The groups with presence and absence of ulcer differed significantly only in white blood cell (WBC) count. Lengths of fasting and admission were 7.9 d and 17.9 d for the ulcer group and 4.4 d and 10.7 d for the non-ulcer group, respectively, and significantly longer in the ulcer group (P = 0.0057 and 0.0001). There was no correlation between presence of ulcer and presence of underlying diseases. CONCLUSION: Lengths of fasting and admission were significantly longer in patients with ischemic colitis with ulcer than for those without ulcer.