OBJECTIVES

: LUCID is a pan-European cross-sectional retrospective study conducted on a sample of gastroenterologists to provide data on patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC). This study aims to describe findings around UC related surgery amongst patients in the LUCID cohort, including surgery rates and related clinical, quality of life and economic factors.

METHODS

: Descriptive analysis focussing on the patients who have undergone surgery and those considered candidates for surgery. Categorical variables were described by frequencies and percentages, continuous variables by means and standard deviation (SD).

RESULTS

: Of the 2,966 UC patients in the LUCID study, 1,638 were male (55%), mean age was 47 (SD 15), with an average of 6.4 (SD 7) years since diagnosis. 153 patients (5%) underwent surgery and another 168 (6%) were considered candidates for surgery. Patient choice was a key driver amongst those not undergoing surgery.

Common reasons for surgery (n=153) were “complications of the disease” (46%), “no response to medication” (33%) and “perforated bowel” (22%). Average length of surgery-related hospital stay was 13.9 days (SD9).

All operated patients reported at least one post-surgical complication; 39 patients (25%) required hospitalization.

Only about a third of patients (35%) with one or more surgeries have ever tried biologics. 27 patients (18%) of those that received a surgical intervention were prescribed their first biologic after surgery.

Function as measured by mean Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Disability Index was 38.6 (SD 21) for 86 patients with previous surgery vs 26.7 (SD 18) for 1,561 patients without surgery. Similarly, mean EQ-5D was 0.7 (SD 0.2) for 84 patients with previous surgery vs 0.8 (SD 0.2) for 1,546 patients without surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

: 5% of patients underwent surgery for their UC, and most never had a biologic prescription. Post-surgical complications are common. EQ5D results suggest that surgery appears to contribute little to improved quality of life.