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  • Review Article
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Acute severe ulcerative colitis: from pathophysiology to clinical management

Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 13, pages 654–664 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Key Points

  • Ulcerative colitis is a common condition, resulting from a complex interplay between environmental, genetic and microbial factors, and dysregulated immune response leading to chronic intestinal inflammation of the colon

  • Approximately 20% of patients with ulcerative colitis experience at least one severe acute exacerbation during the course of their disease, usually requiring hospitalization

  • Patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC) are often hospitalized for correction of body fluids, electrolytes, nutritional status and potent anti-inflammatory treatment or surgery; thromboprophylaxis treatment is mandatory

  • In patients with ASUC, especially in those under immunosuppression, intercurrent superimposed infection needs to be excluded, in particular infections caused by Clostridium difficile and cytomegalovirus

  • Intravenous corticosteroids are the first-line treatment of ASUC; in patients failing first-line treatment after 3–5 days, rescue treatment with ciclosporin or infliximab needs to be initiated

  • Timely colectomy has to be performed in patients who do not respond to salvage therapy, to prevent life-threatening complications

Abstract

Ulcerative colitis is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the colon and rectum, resulting from a dysregulated immune response towards intraluminal antigens in a genetically predisposed host. The disease has a varying extent and severity. Approximately 20% of patients with ulcerative colitis experience a severe flare during the course of their disease, requiring hospitalization. Acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC) is potentially a life-threatening condition that requires early recognition, hospitalization, correction of body fluids and electrolytes, and nutritional support if needed. Superimposed bacterial or viral infections need to be excluded and thromboprophylaxis should be started. Intravenous corticosteroids are the first-line treatment for this condition. Rescue treatment with ciclosporin or infliximab is indicated in patients who do not sufficiently respond to corticosteroids after 3–5 days, with close monitoring of the patients' symptoms, serum C-reactive protein and albumin levels. If medical therapy fails, timely colectomy should be performed to prevent critical complications. In this article, we review all relevant aspects of ASUC, from its pathophysiological background to modern management in clinical practice.

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Figure 1: Overview of the immunopathogenesis of ulcerative colitis and mechanisms of action of drugs with established efficacy in ASUC.
Figure 2: Practical evidence-based algorithm for the management of acute severe colitis in adults.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital of Ghent, De Pintelaan 185, Ghent, 9000, Belgium

    Pieter Hindryckx

  2. Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University Hospital, 339 Windermere Road, London, N6A 5A5, Ontario, Canada

    Vipul Jairath

  3. Department of Gastroenterology, Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam-Zuidoost, 1105 AZ, Netherlands

    Pieter Hindryckx & Geert D'Haens

  4. Robarts Clinical Trials, 100 Dundas Street, London, N6A 5B6, Ontario, Canada

    Pieter Hindryckx, Vipul Jairath & Geert D'Haens

Authors
  1. Pieter Hindryckx
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  2. Vipul Jairath
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  3. Geert D'Haens
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Contributions

G.D. made substantial contributions to discussion of content and reviewed/edited the manuscript before submission. P.H. and V.J. researched data for and wrote the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Geert D'Haens.

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Competing interests

P.H. has received consulting fees from Abbvie and Takeda and speakers fees from AbbVie, Chiesi, Ferring, Falk Pharma, Tillotts Pharma and Vifor Pharma. V.J. has received scientific advisory board fees from AbbVie and Sandoz and speakers fees from Janssen and Takeda. G.D. has received consulting fees from AbbVie, ActoGeniX NV, Amgen, AM-Pharma BV, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Centocor/Janssen Biologics, ChemoCentryx, Cosmo Technologies, Elan/Biogen, EnGene, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Gilead Sciences, Given Imaging, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck Serono, Millenium Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk, NPS Pharmaceuticals, PDL Biopharma, Pfizer, Receptos, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Schering Plough, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Sigmoid Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Tillotts Pharma and UCB Pharma; research grants from AbbVie, Falk, Given Imaging; GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen and Merck; and lecture/speakers bureaux fees from AbbVie, Jansen, Merck, Shire, Takeda and UCB.

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Hindryckx, P., Jairath, V. & D'Haens, G. Acute severe ulcerative colitis: from pathophysiology to clinical management. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 13, 654–664 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2016.116

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