severity
Last reviewed 01/2018
The severity of ulcerative colitis can be assessed on the basis of:
- bowel frequency - less than four motions per day is considered mild, more than six is severe.
- rectal bleeding
- temperature - patients with mild disease are apyrexial, those with severe disease may be higher than 37.8øC
- haemoglobin of less than 10.5 is considered severe, greater than 11 is mild
- ESR of less than 30mm per hour is mild, greater than this is severe
- tachycardia is related to severity
- low albumin - below 30g per litre implies severe disease (1)
So the severity of disease activity of Ulcerative colitis can be graded as:
- mild
- less than four stools daily, with or without blood
- without systemic disturbance
- normal ESR and CRP values
- moderate
- four to six stools a day with minimal systemic disturbance
- severe
- more than six stools a day, containing blood
- and evidence of systemic disturbance (fever, tachycardia, anaemia, or hypoalbuminaemia) (2)
Reference:
clinical based scales to assess severity of ulcerative colitis (UC)