SUCRALFATE, 5-AMINOSALICYLIC ACID AND PLACEBO ENEMAS IN THE TREATMENT OF DISTAL ULCERATIVE-COLITIS

Sucralfate-containing enemas have been proposed as an effective approach for treatment of distal ulcerative colitis. This possibility has now been tested in a double-blind controlled trial. Fifty patients with documented active distal colitis were randomized to receive enemas of sucralfate 10 g, 5-aminosalicylic (5-ASA) 2 g or placebo for 1 month. A 94% clinical, 88% sigmoidoscopic and 83% histological improvement was observed in the 5-ASA-treated group. Sucralfate enemas produced improvement in only 22, 22 and 17%, respectively, which was not significantly different from that recorded in the placebo group (14, 14 and 7%), with respect to clinical status, significantly scopic appearances and histology. These results indicate that 5-ASA enemas are an effective treatment; however sucralfate did not produce any significant positive response in the patients studied.