Investigations

• vital signs ^c
• number of stools passed per day ^{b c}
• blood count ^c
• inflammatory markers ^{b c}
• urea and electrolytes  ^d
• abdominal film for small bowel distension ^c

Why?

Continued frequent diarrhoea and elevated inflammatory markers increase the risk of colectomy

Patient	Prognostic Factor	Outcome	CER	RR (95% CI)	NNF+ (95% CI)
active ulcerative colitis b	> 8 bowel actions and a CRP > 45 on day 3 of admission not independent	colectomy at uncertain duration	8.5%	8.75 (2.86 to 26.8)	2 (1 to 6)