Ispaghula husk may relieve gastrointestinal symptoms in ulcerative colitis in remission

Abstract

The efficiency of ispaghula husk in relieving gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with ulcerative colitis in remission was studied in a placebo-controlled trial running for 4 months. Twenty-nine patients (81%) completed the trial; four withdrew after colitis relapse (three while receiving placebo). Grading of symptoms judged ispaghula to be consistently superior to placebo (p less than 0.001) and associated with a significantly higher rate of improvement (69%) than placebo (24%) (p less than 0.001). The results show that ispaghula can be helpful in the management of gastrointestinal symptoms in quiescent ulcerative colitis.