[Dietary behavior and nutritional status of patients with ileorectal anastomosis after total colectomy for hemorrhagic rectocolitis].
In ulcerative colitis, total colectomy with ileo-rectal anastomosis is commonly performed in Europe. Whether this procedure induces a protein caloric malnutrition and/or a radical modification of diet is not known. Twenty-one patients with ileo-rectal anastomosis and 21 normal subjects who were matched for age, sex, social behavior and habitat were therefore studied concomitantly. In all subjects, the diet contents in energy, nitrogen, glucids, lipids, proteins, dietary fibers and vitamin C, were quantitatively determined. Evaluation of nutritional status included body weight measurement and determination of biological markers: serum albumin, prealbumin, transferrin, hemoglobin and urinary creatinine. The energy and nitrogen intakes of the patients were not different from those of control subjects: respectively 2,187 +/- 612 versus 2,038 +/- 589 kcal/day and 15.4 +/- 5.9 versus 16.0 +/- 5.2 g/day. In contrast, the dietary fiber and vitamin C contents of the diet were significantly lower in patients than in control subjects: respectively 9.7 +/- 5.5 versus 14.6 +/- 5.6 g/day and 43.5 +/- 29.9 versus 72.4 +/- 23.7 mg/day (p less than 0.05). There was no difference in nutritional status between patients and the control group. Thus, in ulcerative colitis, ileorectal anastomosis seems to cause neither protein caloric malnutrition nor radical modifications in diet. Nevertheless, the low intake in vitamin C suggests that supplementation with ascorbic acid may be useful in these patients.