Clinical Burden of Refractory Proctitis

Summary

Refractory proctitis is a prevalent problem and a large unmet need in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). In patients whose disease does not progress and remains confined to the rectum, ulcerative proctitis is still often responsible for distressing symptoms such as urgency, incontinence, and constipation and rectal bleeding, leading to a  reduced quality of life.

Refractory disease is defined as active proctitis which fails rectal and oral therapy. Treatment of refractory proctitis remains challenging because patients with the condition are systematically excluded from randomized controlled trials with drugs with new modes of action. Without this data, recommendations for the management of ulcerative proctitis are therefore  often extrapolated from studies involved more in ulcerative colitis or from small real-world evidence studies. 

We aim to use the patient and clinical experience of managing ulcerative proctitis to identify the clinical and research needs of this patient group. We will use this  information to inform future research and clinical guidance on this condition.

Organisation: This research is organised by Dr Gordon Moran from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Participation: 6 volunteers from the IBD BioResource took part in an online questionnaire for this research study.

Study Update: Please see here for link to the published article in the BMJ