Inflammatory Bowel Disease Increases the Risks of Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism in the Hospitalized Patients: A Nationwide Cohort Study

Abstract

Background & AimsWe conducted a nationwide, population-based cohort study to evaluate the effects of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on the risks of developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) in Taiwan. MethodsWe randomly selected the study cohort with IBD from the National Health Insurance (NHI) database (N=23.74 million) and the control cohort without IBD who was frequency-matched the study cohort based on age, sex, and index year to each IBD patient between 2000 and 2010. Using a follow-up period ending in 2011, we analyzed the risks of DVT and PE using Cox proportional hazard regression analyses. ResultsThe 11 445 IBD patients and 45 780controls were followed 65 256 and 293 377 person-years, respectively. After adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidities, the risks of IBD patients developing DVT and PE was 1.98-fold and 1.80-fold higher, respectively, than those of the comparison cohort. The IBD patients presenting with 2 or more annual hospitalizations exhibited a significantly greater risk of developing DVT (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 32.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 20.5–52.8) and PE (adjusted HR=24.2, 95% CI=11.1–52.9) than did the comparison cohort. Women with IBD showed a significantly greater risk of DVT and PE than did the comparison cohort (adjusted HR=1.80, 95% CI=1.18–2.78 for DVT and adjusted HR=2.08, 95% CI=1.14–3.80 for PE respectively). ConclusionThe risks of DVT and PE are significantly higher in IBD patients compared with risks in the general population. What is current knowledgeThromboembolic complications are easily overlooked in IBD patients. What is new hereThe risks of DVT and PE are significantly higher in IBD patients.