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NURS 6521N Advanced Pharmacology – IBD and IBS Differences
Although both ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease have distinct pathologic findings, approximately 10%-15% of patients cannot be classified definitively into either type; in such patients, the disease is labeled as indeterminate colitis. Systemic symptoms are common in IBD and include fever, sweats, malaise, and arthralgias.
The rectum is always involved in ulcerative colitis, and the disease primarily involves continuous lesions of the mucosa and the submucosa. Both ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease usually have waxing and waning intensity and severity. When the patient is symptomatic due to active inflammation, the disease is considered to be in an active stage (the patient is having a flare of the IBD). (See Presentation.)
In many cases, symptoms correspond well to the degree of inflammation present for either disease, although this is not universally true. NURS 6521N Advanced Pharmacology – IBD and IBS Differences. In some patients, objective evidence linking active disease to ongoing inflammation should be sought before administering medications with significant adverse effects (see Medication), because patients with IBD can have other reasons for their gastrointestinal symptoms unrelated to their IBD, including coexisting irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), celiac disease, or other confounding diagnoses, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) effects and ischemic or infectious colitis.
Although ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease have significant differences, many, but not all, of the treatments available for one condition are also effective for the other. Surgical intervention for ulcerative colitis is curative for colonic disease and potential colonic malignancy, but it is not curative for Crohn disease.
NURS 6521N Advanced Pharmacology – IBD and IBS Differences
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