Managing Ulcerative Colitis: The Guidelines and Beyond

Management guidelines offer clinicians clear, evidence-based and often succinct treatment advice. For ulcerative colitis these guidelines describe the use of 5-ASA, corticosteroids, thiopurines, cyclosporine, and anti-TNFα therapies. However, guidelines do have some drawbacks, mainly a lack of concrete advice concerning patients resistant to these aforementioned therapies. This review gives a short overview of current guidelines and addresses treatment alternatives for conventional therapies.