The rate of colectomy within the first year after hospital admission for ulcerative colitis has declined, suggesting the advent of biologic therapy has changed the natural history of the disease, researchers report.

US researchers used data from the Northern California Kaiser Permanente database to study 524 adults with ulcerative colitis and a first hospitalisation between 2009 and 2017.

Results showed that 5.3% of patients underwent colectomy during their first hospitalisation for ulcerative colitis and 11.9% had the procedure within the first year after hospitalisation, compared with rates of 20% and 30%, respectively, in historical controls.

The researchers presented the study on 23 January at the Crohn’s and Colitis Congress in Austin, Texas, sponsored by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and the American Gastroenterological Association.