1. Problem 

Ulcerative colitis is a long-term bowel disease that makes the colon swollen and damaged. Some people need surgery when medicine does not work, the disease gets worse, or there is a risk of cancer. There are different types of surgery, but it is not always clear which patients get which one. We want to find out which patients have which surgery and how surgery has changed over time.

2. Methods 

This study will use a large set of anonymous patient records from the NIHR BioResource. We will look at how surgery for ulcerative colitis has changed over time. We will also see how the patient and disease factors affect which operation they have. We will focus on surgeries that reconnect the bowel so that patients can pass stool normally.

3. Relevance of requested data 

The NIHR BioResource provides anonymous patient data. This allows us to study surgery patterns in real patients safely and on a large scale. Without this data, it would not be possible to study enough patients to see clear patterns and associations.

4. Benefit to patients and impact 

We will study how surgery for ulcerative colitis is done and how it has changed. It can help doctors decide the best surgery for each patient and help improve care in the future.