Abstract

Background
/Aims: Ischemic colitis mainly occurs in elderly patients and encompasses a wide clinical spectrum from mild, transient to severe and gangrenous forms. Since life expectancy is now increasing, more often physicians will encounter patients with this disease entity. Our aim was to review the clinical features of ischemic colitis and to analyze the effect of clinical factors on the duration of hospital stay and evaluate predictive factors of poor prognosis. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 294 patients diagnosed with ischemic colitis during 10 years from March 1997 to February 2007. Results: The mean hospital stay was 12.4±6.6 days. According to the use of multiple regression analysis, age, sex, clinical symptoms, hypertension, constipation, use of laxatives or antibiotics did not affect hospital stay. Factors that significantly increased hospital stay were diabetes mellitus (p= 0.007), colonic involvement of more than three segments (p=0.009) and the presence of an ulcer on a colonoscopic finding (p=0.008). Conclusions: Diabetes mellitus, colonic involvement of more than three segments and the presence of an ulcer on a colonoscopic finding are important predictive factors of poor prognosis in patients with ischemic colitis. In cases with one of these factors, more intensive treatment options should be adapted. (Korean J Gastrointest Endosc 2008;36:349-353)

• Keywords: Colitis, Ischemic, Hospital stay, Prognostic factor