[Successful acute treatment of chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases with oral 5-aminosalicylic acid].

The effectiveness of oral 5-aminosalicylic acid (0.5 g t.i.d.) and of salazosulfapyridine (1.0 g t.i.d.) was compared in a randomized controlled study in two groups with 30 patients each with ulcerative colitis and with Crohn's disease. Persistent complaints within the first 5 days were treated with additional methyl-prednisolone (40 mg/d initially). After treatment for 8 weeks patients with ulcerative colitis showed morphologic remissions in 60% of the 5-aminosalicylic acid group and in 53% of the salazosulfapyridine group. Clinical improvement was achieved in 86% in both groups. Clinical improvement in Crohn's disease was seen in 87% of patients of the 5-aminosalicylic acid group and in 80% of the salazosulfapyridine group. This was evidenced by the significant fall (P = 0,0001) of the mean activity index. Additional steroid medication was nearly equal in both treatment groups. There were no side effects during treatment with 5-aminosalicylic acid. In contrast, salazosulfapyridine had to be withdrawn in four patients due to signs of intolerance. 5-Aminosalicylic acid can thus be considered a valuable alternative to conventional treatment on the basis of equal effectiveness as salazosulfapyridine and lack of undesirable side effects.