Ulcerative Colitis Patients Have Reduced Rectal Compliance Compared With Non–Inflammatory Bowel Disease Controls

Abstract

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease characterized by diffuse inflammation of the colorectal mucosa. Unlike Crohn’s disease, which has long been characterized as a progressive disease that results in bowel damage, the similarly progressive nature of UC has only more recently been considered and characterized by the extent of colonic involvement, development of neoplasia, altered colonic permeability, and dysmotility and anorectal dysfunction.1 Indirect support for these observations is found in the pivotal trials of therapies for UC, which demonstrate discrepancies between clinical remission and measures of mucosal healing.