13
Views
67
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Assessment of the Therapeutic Value of an Elemental Diet in Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease

&
Pages 89-96 | Received 10 Jun 1976, Accepted 17 Aug 1976, Published online: 29 Oct 2018
 

Abstract

Thirty-four patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease, 23 with ulcerative colitis, and 11 with Crohn's disease, were treated with elemental diet. Thirty-one patients had been on high dose prednisone therapy one to four weeks prior to the diet with no or insufficient response. Fifteen patients (44%) went into remission when elemental diet was introduced as the only change of treatment. Furthermore six patients (18%) went into remission when the dietary treatment was supplemented with high dose prednisone treatment (2 cases) or an increase of prednisone dose (4 cases). Remission occurred in 16 of 21 patients with disease of moderate activity, but in only 5 of 13 cases with severe disease. Remission rate was higher in patients with a limited extent of the lesion, but 8 patients with extensive colitis responded to treatment. There was no significant change of haemoglobin, serum iron, transferrin, albumin, orosomucoid, or renal excretion of creatinine. However, significant decreases were observed of sedimentation rate, renal urea excretion, faecal volume and daily number of bowel movements. Colectomy was performed in 8 patients whose condition remained unchanged or aggravated during treatment. Follow-up studies of non-operated patients who went into remission showed that 6 of 13 patients with ulcerative colitis were perfectly well 7–28 months after the study, 3 patients suffered a mild recurrence after 4–24 months, and 4 patients were colectomized 5–10 months later due to severe attack. Of 8 patients with Crohn's disease 4 remained unoperated and free of symptoms 22–35 months after the study.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.