Intractable Ulcerative Colitis

Patients with intractable ulcerative colitis requiring surgical treatment can have a variety of problems. This chapter reviews some of the problems faced by these patients, including those related to outcomes of surgical treatment. Since the advent of ileoanal pull-through operations, very few patients undergo continent ileostomies, partly because of problems related to these procedures. While the vast majority of patients undergoing proctocolectomy with ileostomy and those having ileoanal pull-through operations do well, some of the problems related to these operations are also presented here.