Clinical Profile of Ulcerative Colitis Patients in a Tertiary Care Center: An Experience from Rural India.

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory condition of the colon, characterized by relapsing and remitting course. This study was done to look at the clinical profile of ulcerative colitis patients in a tertiary care hospital, located in rural area of northern India. All patients with ulcerative colitis and age above 18 years who attended outpatient clinics from November 2019 to January 2020 were included in the study. A total of 45 patients were included in the study. There were 19 males (42.22%) and mean age of the patients was 37.08 (± 11.58) years. The most common presenting complain was blood in stools (88.88%). The majority of the patients (62.22%) had pancolitis. Family history of proven IBD was found in 1 (2.22%) patient only. Extra-intestinal manifestations were seen in 7 patients (15.55%) commonest being arthralgia. Thirty-three patients (73.33%) were on oral mesalazine, 20 patients (44.44%) were on azathioprine, and 9 patients (20%) were on oral corticosteroids. None of the patients was on biologics. Slight female predominance, fewer EIM, less family history of IBD, higher percentage of pancolitis, and significant percentage of patients on oral immunosuppressant (azathioprine) are the key features observed in this study from rural India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]