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©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Dec 27, 2015; 7(12): 360-369
Published online Dec 27, 2015. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v7.i12.360
Published online Dec 27, 2015. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v7.i12.360
Impact of thiopurines and anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy on hospitalisation and long-term surgical outcomes in ulcerative colitis
Christopher Alexakis, Richard CG Pollok, Department of Gastroenterology, St George’s University and NHS Trust, Tooting, London SW17 0QT, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Both Alexakis C and Pollok RCG contributed equally to the concept, literature search and review, and manuscript formulation.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None declared.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Richard CG Pollok, FRCP, BSc, PhD, DTMH, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Honorary Reader, Department of Gastroenterology, St George’s University and NHS Trust, Blackshaw Road, Tooting, London SW17 0QT, United Kingdom. richard.pollok@nhs.net
Telephone: +44-208-6721255 Fax: +44-208-7253520
Received: June 26, 2015
Peer-review started: July 22, 2015
First decision: August 26, 2015
Revised: September 22, 2015
Accepted: November 10, 2015
Article in press: November 11, 2015
Published online: December 27, 2015
Peer-review started: July 22, 2015
First decision: August 26, 2015
Revised: September 22, 2015
Accepted: November 10, 2015
Article in press: November 11, 2015
Published online: December 27, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: Longitudinal population data indicates a protective effect of thiopurines on colectomy in ulcerative colitis in the long-term, but there is limited evidence that they reduce hospitalisation. Research on anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy shows a possible short-term protective effect against colectomy, but more data is needed to address any long-term benefits.