[Ulcerative pancolitis predicts the need for colectomy: study of an incident cohort of patients with ulcerative colitis in Aragón (Spain)]. / La afectación pancolónica inicial en la colitis ulcerosa predice la necesidad de colectomía: estudio poblacional basado en una cohorte incidente de pacientes en Aragón.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Population-based studies show pancolitis as the only risk factor for colectomy in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). AIM: To evaluate surgical need, its etiology and characteristics, and the distinct clinical variables that act as risk and/or protective factors for the indication for surgery in an incident cohort of patients with UC in Aragón. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Based on the results of a population-based, prospective study reporting the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in Aragón, 168 patients with a diagnosis of UC were included in the present study. The patients' medical records were reviewed and the following clinical variables were collected from the time of diagnosis (1992-1995) to February 2001 surgery, type of surgical intervention and etiology, anatomic distribution, number of relapses, remissions, clinical course, death, smoking, oral contraceptives and hospitalizations. To investigate the association between these variables and surgery during follow-up, descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS: Of 204 patients diagnosed with UC, 168 (82.3%) with a follow-up of at least 6 months were included. The mean follow-up was 77 months (range 6-110 months). Some type of surgery was required by 6.5% of our patients during follow-up and 3.6% needed a second surgical intervention. Surgery was indicated for various etiologies. Most patients underwent colectomy and ileostomy with subsequent surgical reconstruction of the intestinal tract. Pancolitis was a clear independent risk factor for colectomy in our patient cohort. No association was found between sex, age at diagnosis, and oral contraceptive intake with surgery during follow-up. Patients who underwent surgery had previously shown more than one relapse and several hospitalizations but did not necessarily show a chronic clinical course. We found no positive or negative association with any smoking-related variables smoker, non-smoker, years of smoking or years free of smoking. CONCLUSION: Ulcerative pancolitis at diagnosis is a predictive factor for surgery in the short term in patients with a diagnosis of UC in Aragón. We found no other significant associations with the remaining epidemiological factors studied.