1989 Volume 42 Issue 2 Pages 241-248
Since mteronidazole has been found to be effective in cases o Crohn's disease, we evaluated its efficacy in the treatment of intractable ulcerative colitis.
Seven patients with ulcerative colitis received 0.5-1.0g metronidazole daily for more than 3 months. Three cases were the chronic persistent type, and 4 cases had more than 6 months active duration after recent relapse. Three cases were diagnosed as the total colitis type, 2 as left-sided colitis type, and 2 as proctitis type. All patients had received salicylazosulfapyridine and corticosteroids, but the disease was in the active symptomatic phase. Therapeutic effect was evaluated in terms of clinical symptoms, blood inflammatory reaction and endoscopic findings.
A marked effect was obtained in 5 cases, a slight effect in 1 cases, and no effect in 1 cases. Metronidazole tended to be effective for patients with a long active disease duration and no severe symptoms, resistant to corticosteroid therapy. We have reported because it is significant that a proportion of cases of intractable ulcerative colitis responded favorably to metronidazole.
