Clinical presentation and treatment strategies for ulcerative colitis: A retrospective study of 247 inpatients.
OBJECTIVE
Complementary and alternative medicine, particularly herbal therapy, is widely used by patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), but controlled data are limited. To describe the clinical presentation and treatment strategies for UC in inpatients from Shanghai, China and to improve the therapeutic outcomes for patients with UC.


METHODS
Medical records from 247 patients with UC who were admitted to Longhua Hospital Affifiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between January 2008 and June 2013 were analyzed for gender, age, course of the disease, clinical type, extent and severity of the disease, treatment strategies, and therapeutic outcomes.


RESULTS
Gender ratios and disease onset of inpatients with UC in the Shanghai area were consistent with other reports in the literature. In contrast to previous studies, most patients exhibited disease of the left colon, over half of the patients had problems of the rectum or sigmoid colon, and most patients had either mild or moderate UC. Comparison of Sutherland Disease Actirity Index scores for patients treated with Chinese medicine (CM) and those treated with integrated CM and Western medicine revealed signifificant reductions in scores for both groups after treatment (P<0.01), with no signifificant difference in therapeutic effects between groups (P=0.938).


CONCLUSIONS
Herbal medicine has been widely used in patients with mild to moderate disease and as adjunct therapy in patients with moderate to severe disease. Therefore, the strategy was proposed for the treatment of UC with CM therapy based on 2 steps according to the stage of the disease, even in the clinical setting.
Department of Gastroenterology, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Institute of Digestive Disease Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Yan-Cheng
YC
Dai
Department of Gastroenterology, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Institute of Digestive Disease Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Ya-Li
YL
Zhang
Department of Gastroenterology, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Institute of Digestive Disease Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Li-Juan
LJ
Wang
Department of Gastroenterology, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Institute of Digestive Disease Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Qian
Q
Guo
Department of Gastroenterology, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Institute of Digestive Disease Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Kun
K
Yang
Department of Gastroenterology, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Institute of Digestive Disease Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Ren-Hao
RH
Ye
Department of Gastroenterology, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Institute of Digestive Disease Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200032, China. zhipengtang@sohu.com.
Zhi-Peng
ZP
Tang
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
Chinese medicine; retrospective study; treatment strategy; ulcerative colitis