Abstract

Abstract Background Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a major cause of disability, affecting physical, emotional and social well-being. The recent STRIDE II international guidelines consider disability-free and normal quality of life as therapeutic targets. Today, the degree of mucosal healing required to reduce disability, incontinence and bowel urgencies is poorly known. Methods We conducted a single-center cross-sectional study between January 2021 and June 2023. All consecutive patients with UC and endoscopic healing (Mayo ≤ 1) underwent IBD-disk disability assessment the day of the colonoscopy. Histological healing was defined as Nancy score 0 or 1 (2 biopsies per segment from rectum to right colon). Moderate to severe disability was defined as an overall score ≥ 40. Incontinence was defined by a Wexner score >5 and bowel urgency by an NRS urgency score > 1). Results A total of 57 patients were included, with 34 (59.6%) women. Median age and disease duration were 47.4 (interquartile range [IQR] [43.5; 51.2]) and 13.0 years (IQR, 13.1-18.4), respectively. 37/57 (65%) patients had complete endoscopic healing Mayo 0 and 43/54 (80%) histological healing. The median overall IBD-Disk score was 29 [25.5; 37.5] and 27 (47%) had moderate to severe disability. There were no differences in terms of age, gender, body mass index, smoking status, disease extension and treatment for the 3 groups Mayo 1, Mayo 0 and histological healing. The rate of moderate to severe disability was not different among patients with Mayo 0 (7/20, 35%) vs. Mayo 1 (20/37, 54%) patients (p=0.26), or in patients with (22/43, 51%) or without histological healing (4/11,36%) (p =0.51). Of the 35 patients assessed, bowel urgency were reported in 11 (31.4%), with no difference between the two definitions of endoscopic healing (p=0.72) or histological healing (p=0.37). Among the 35 patients with a Wexner score evaluation, incontinence was observed in 19% (4/21) and 14% (2/14) of Mayo 0 and Mayo 1 patients respectively (p=0.99), and 24% (6/25) vs. 0% (0/7) of patients with or without histological healing (p=0.3). Conclusion Half of patients with UC who achieved endoscopic healing reported a moderate to severe disability. Mayo 0 (vs. 1) endoscopic healing and histological healing do not appear to provide any short-term benefit in terms of disability, fecal incontinence or bowel urgency.

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