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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffThe choice of treatment for ischemic colitis depends on the severity of your condition.
When ischemic colitis is mild, your doctor may prescribe medications to keep your blood pressure at normal levels, which will help facilitate blood flow to your colon. You may also need to take antibiotics to prevent infections from developing. Your doctor will treat any underlying health problems, such as heart failure, and may prescribe an aspirin a day.
With such conservative measures, symptoms often diminish in 24 to 48 hours in mild cases, without the need for hospitalization.
However, if you're dehydrated, you may need hospitalization to provide fluids and nutrients through your veins (intravenously). You may also need restrictions on food intake for a few days to let your intestines rest.
Your doctor will continue to monitor you regularly with follow-up colonoscopies to determine whether the disease has healed or progressed, and whether complications have developed. In mild cases, healing may occur in two weeks or less. In more severe cases, recovery can take longer, and relapses can occur.
If you develop ischemic colitis before the age of 50 or have a history of blood clots, you could have a disorder increasing the tendency of your blood to clot. Your doctor may treat this with a blood thinner such as warfarin, which could help prevent the likelihood of future ischemic colitis episodes.
Surgery
Some people with severe or prolonged ischemic colitis need surgical treatment to remove (resect) the affected part of the colon or bowel.
You may need surgery for ischemic colitis if your condition is associated with:
- Abdominal tenderness and fever that are severe and persistent, even after initial treatment with fluids and medications.
- Bleeding ulcers.
- A hole (perforation) in your colon.
- Gangrene and blood infection (sepsis). Treatment for this severe complication also includes broad-spectrum antibiotics and blood replacement.
