The inflammatory bowel diseases of ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease are chronic inflammatory conditions of the intestine. The estimated incidence of ulcerative colitis is 15 per 100 000 person-years and the prevalence is 400 per 100 000 in North America. Despite advances to medical management, nearly 1 in 5 patients with ulcerative colitis will be hospitalized and approximately 7% will require a colectomy within 5 years of diagnosis. The health care cost of ulcerative colitis has steadily risen over the past 2 decades, and the per-person average cost was $9000 in 2021. The high cost of ulcerative colitis largely has been attributed to the escalating cost of medical therapy.
