Ulcerative Rectocolitis

Ulcerative rectocolitis is, along with Crohn's disease and celiac disease, one of the already severe autoimmune diseases of the intestine.

Those affected experience acute periods to periods of remission, with violent pain and diarrheal discharges almost always accompanied by copious blood loss (rectorrhagia).

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Diagnosis of ulcerative rectocolitis is difficult, as is treatment: being an autoimmune disease, its exact origin is currently unknown to science.

Modern medicine, however, although not yet able to cure the disease, can greatly improve patients' quality of life.

Read this page to find out more about ulcerative rectocolitis, and what can be done to treat it.

What is ulcerative rectocolitis?

Ulcerative rectocolitis, also simply called ulcerative colitis, is an inflammatory bowel disease, chronic in nature, extremely selective in that it affects only the mucosa of the colon (with preference given to the rectal).

The inflammation has a tendency to remain confined to the rectum (hence the name), but can still spread throughout the entire colon, mainly in the descending segment.

The mucosa afflicted with ulcerative colitis loses its physiological pinkish coloration and becomes inflamed, covering itself with purulent ulcers, which are in fact the last stage of the disease.

What is ulcerative rectocolitis caused by?

Ulcerative rectocolitis is, in the current state of Medicine, considered an idiopathic disease, with unknown original causes.

Statistically speaking, it makes no sex distinction or preference, is more common in industrialized countries, and strikes at any age, with some predilection for the adult and senile segments of life.

These characteristics of it, coupled with the fact that it turns inexplicably against a very specific organ in the body, lead one to suspect an autoimmune origin.

Like all autoimmune diseases, ulcerative rectocolitis is shown to be an exaggerated response of the body to generally harmless environmental factors, such as the presence of physiological gut microbes, which are generally present in symbiosis with our digestive activity.

What are the symptoms of ulcerative rectocolitis?

The main symptom of ulcerative rectocolitis is diarrhea, which takes the form of violent attacks with scattered and cramping, often followed by actual anal bleeding (rectorrhagia).

These attacks can be so violent that hospitalization is required to administer emergency therapy with corticosteroids, antibiotics, and immunosuppressants.

During attacks, the patient totally loses hunger and thirst, partly because of the intense intestinal pain, and this causes, along with violent diarrheal discharges, dehydration.

Accompanying these main symptoms, there may then be extraintmestinal localized problems, such as dermal rushes ulcers in the lower extremities (also purulent), arthritis of both peripheral joints and spine, and the appearance of reddish, painful nodules.

The origin of these side symptoms is not yet known to science, but they disappear upon remission of the main symptoms of ulcerative rectocolitis.

Diarrheal discharges and chronic ulcerations in the rectum can then lead to a whole range of related conditions, such as chronic proctitis, possibility of perinatal abscesses and anal fistulas, development of hemorrhoidal pathology, and painful fissures, which do not heal spontaneously.

How is ulcerative rectocolitis diagnosed?

The diagnosis of ulcerative rectocolitis is particularly difficult, especially because it can be confused symptomatically with other chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease.

The first-line examination for its diagnosis is therefore colonoscopy, accompanied by an intestinal biopsy.

What is the treatment for ulcerative rectocolitis?

At present, Medicine cannot explain the exact origin of ulcerative colitis, and as a result, even the cure is therefore not possible.

Be that as it may, a number of palliative therapies are available that, although not sufficient to eradicate the disease, can still bring great relief to the patient, and lessen the symptoms of acute attacks.

Thus, the aim of this therapy is to alleviate the symptoms of ulcerative rectocolitis while limiting its attacks, possibly diluting them over time into less and less frequent episodes.

To do this, mesalazine, a powerful drug that acts directly on the intestinal mucosa, flaring it, may be prescribed.

Mesalazine should also be combined with the appropriate immunosuppressive therapy, which goes to act directly on the lymphocytes responsible for attacking the intestinal walls.

Excellent in this regard are aztioprine and 6-mercaptopurine, two molecules that are capable not only of regressing inflammatory symptoms but also of blocking new attacks for long intervals of time.

In case of resistance to drug treatments, new synthetic drugs capable of selectively blocking lymphocytes and helping to flare the mucosa may be administered during acute phases.

Colectomy, that is, surgical removal of the entire colon, is the radical operation that is prescribed only as a last resort, only when the patient does not respond to any of the drug therapies and the acute attacks present themselves chronically and increasingly dramatically, such that they prevent him from any work or even social activity.

Who to contact if you suspect you have ulcerative rectocolitis?

The medical specialist with the greatest experience in ulcerative rectocolitis is the Proctology Physician, but the Gastroenterology Physician is also decidedly familiar with the condition, and can therefore be consulted.

Given the severity of the symptoms and the need to intervene promptly with appropriate palliative therapy, it is wise for patients who suspect they have ulcerative rectocolitis not to initiate 'do-it-yourself' therapies of any kind, but to see a competent physician exclusively.