Effect of clinical pathway in the treatment of inpatients with ischemic colitis

: Based on the results of a retrospective review of clinical data on inpatients with ischemic colitis treated at our hospital, we created a clinical pathway and evaluated its usefulness. We used the clinical pathway for 21 inpatients, and the patient who fulfilled the criteria consisted of 18 inpatients. The fasting period after the onset and the duration of hospitalization were compared with those of 60 patients before implementation of the clinical pathway. The fasting period after the onset before and after implementation were 6.20+/- 3.42 days (mean+/- SD), and 5.28+/- 1.27 days, respectively. The duration of hospitalization before and after implementation was 10.37+/- 7.32 days, 8.37+/- 2.89 days, respectively. The clinical pathway is useful for shortening the duration of hospitalization, enhancing the uniformity of treatment and controlling the treatment risk.