Proctocolectomy and Ileostomy for Ulcerative Colitis: The Longer Term Story

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Abstract
Elective surgery for ulcerative colitis usually involves the removal of the entire large bowel with either a conventional ileostomy or the formation of an ileoanal pouch anastomosis. Seventy patients undergoing a one stage elective total proctocolectomy and ileostomy between 1976 (the first year an ileoanal pouch was carried out in this hospital) and 1986 have been studied. We have confirmed that proctocolectomy and ileostomy for ulcerative colitis is not the trouble free operation many presume it to be when considering the alternative of an ileoanal pouch.