Mechanistic Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of Mesalazine in Symptomatic Diverticular Disease
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2011-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Diverticulosis (bulges in the bowel wall) affects two third of the elderly population in the
UK. Diverticular disease and its complications are responsible for 68000 hospital admissions
and 2000 deaths per year. It commonly produces recurrent short lived abdominal pain, changes
in bowel habit and incontinence. The causes of symptoms are not known and the treatments
unsatisfactory. Recent studies have found an association between inflammation, alteration of
bowel nerves and symptoms. Mesalazine is an anti-inflammatory drug used in inflammatory bowel
conditions, such as ulcerative colitis and crohn's disease. We plan to perform a randomized
double blind (neither the patients or the doctors known which treatment the patient is
taking) placebo (sham medication) controlled trial of mesalazine in symptomatic diverticular
disease patients. We anticipate a reduction in the amount of inflammation, bowel nerve
changes and symptoms in patients taking mesalazine compare to those taking the placebo.