Ulcerative Colitis
If you have ulcerative colitis, our expert doctors offer comprehensive and compassionate care to help manage and treat your condition. To manage your condition over the long term, we offer the most advanced therapies available, including new biologic drugs (genetically engineered medicines).
Ulcerative Colitis Care at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital: Why Choose Us
Ulcerative colitis requires care over the course of your lifetime. Our team offers personalized care in a convenient location that includes:
- Experienced gastroenterologists: Our physicians have decades of experience diagnosing and treating ulcerative colitis and other inflammatory bowel diseases.
- Advanced treatments: We offer novel therapies, including new biologic drugs that reduce inflammation along your digestive tract, administered on-site under close supervision for your safety and convenience.
- Access to clinical trials: Through our Washington University physicians, you may be eligible to participate in a research study designed to investigate new diagnostic and treatment procedures for ulcerative colitis.
- Treatment plans tailored to your specific symptoms: Because everyone experiences ulcerative colitis differently, our doctors treat your unique symptoms.
What Is Ulcerative Colitis?
This inflammatory bowel disease causes swelling and sores to occur in the lining of your large intestine (also called the colon or bowel). Ulcerative colitis can be treated using a combination of therapies.
What Are the Symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis?
The signs and symptoms of ulcerative colitis can mimic the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome or other inflammatory bowel diseases, like Crohn’s disease.
In general, you may experience these signs and symptoms:
- Diarrhea that contains blood and/or pus
- Feelings of bowel urgency
- Unexplained weight loss
- Anemia
- Occasional fever and abdominal cramping
Ulcerative colitis symptoms may be mild or moderate. No two people experience this condition in the same way, with the same intensity.
How Is Ulcerative Colitis Diagnosed?
It takes an expert physician to distinguish the symptoms of ulcerative colitis from other inflammatory bowel disorders. At Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital, our specialists have decades of experience doing this.
To give you an accurate diagnosis, our approach includes:
- Gastroenterologists who specialize in treating inflammatory bowel diseases
- Physicians who also are involved in the latest ulcerative colitis research
- Comprehensive diagnostic tests conducted on-site, including colonoscopy, so you can receive all your care in one place
How Is Ulcerative Colitis Treated?
Your treatment will depend on the severity of your condition and the type of symptoms you are experiencing. Our physicians offer a combination of innovative drug treatments and surgical procedures, including:
- Traditional medications: Our doctors offer a full range of treatments, such as drugs to suppress immune system activity.
- Front-line biologic medications: Access this sophisticated therapy that uses genetically engineered medication to reduce the inflammation of your intestines. Our on-site infusion suites offer safety, comfort and convenience.
- Comprehensive follow-up care: We take care of you over the long term. Take advantage of our conveniently located laboratory services for routine liver function testing.
Contact Us
For more information or to schedule an appointment with a gastroenterologist, call Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital at 314.542.WEST (9378) or toll-free at 844.542.9378.
We are conveniently located just one mile west of I-270 on Olive Blvd., at Olive and Mason in Creve Coeur, Missouri - a west county suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Get directions to our hospital.