Prevalence of ileo-colonic ulcerative lesions in chronic NSAIDs users.

Abstract

TO THE EDITOR: It is well known that chronic users of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) frequently develop ulcerative lesions in the small and large intestines (1,2). Smale et al. reported that NSAIDs cause inflammatory lesions in the small intestine in about 60% of patients using NSAIDs for a long term (3), and Gleeson et al. reported that as many as 75% of patients with erosive colitis are chronic NSAID users (4). In our clinical experience in Japan, however, the prevalence of ileo-colonic ulcers in chronic users of NSAIDs does not appear to be as high. Therefore, we studied the prevalence of ileo-colonic ulcerative lesions in chronic NSAID users in a retrospective, multicenter study.