Surgery for Ulcerative Colitis
Despite drug therapies, approximately one-third of people with ulcerative colitis will need surgery to treat the inflammation, prevent or treat cancer, or to treat a complication such as rupture of the colon. Surgery in which the entire colon is removed cures the person of their ulcerative colitis. In the past they were left with ileostomies, external bags into which the small intestine emptied. Surgical techniques have been developed, however, that now allow the colon to be removed without the need for an ileostomy.
