The Autonomy of Idiopathic Erosive Proctitis

Abstract

HIGH ON the list of badly underpublicized diseases of the gastrointestinal tract stands idiopathic erosive proctitis. Its poor press is explained by the usual habit of lumping it with common ulcerative colitis. The fact: it is an entirely different disease, no more like ulcerative colitis than amebic colitis. The Subjective Picture Idiopathic erosive proctitis usually begins during the third or fourth decade. Most patients are women, although I am unable to suggest in what proportion. To the patient, the onset seems sudden. The patient feels well but all at once sees red blood on stool or toilet tissue. Rectal bleeding is the main manifestation at the beginning and throughout the course of the illness. It tends to persist daily for many weeks or months, sometimes with brief periods of spontaneous improvement, but in most patients it shows a doggedness that leads to chronic discouragement among all concerned. The blood is