Beclomethasone dipropionate (3 mg) enemas combined with oral 5-ASA (2.4 g) in the treatment of ulcerative colitis not responsive to oral 5-ASA alone.

Beclomethasone dipropionate is one of the topical corticosteroids which appear to have minimal systemic effects. We evaluated whether combined therapy with Beclomethasone dipropionate enemas and oral 5-aminosalicylic acid could be effective in patients suffering from ulcerative colitis not responsive to oral 5-aminosalicylic acid as monotherapy. In twenty patients,non responders to 5-aminosalicylic acid treatment (2.4-3.6 g/day) given for at least 6 weeks,Beclomethasone dipropionate enemas (3 mg/60 ml/day) were added for 4 weeks. Efficacy of the combination was evaluated before and at the end of the treatment using a clinical,endoscopic and histological score.