BACKGROUND & AIMS:

We 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.

METHODS:

We 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.

RESULTS:

The 11 445 IBD patients and 45 780 controls 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).

CONCLUSION:

The risks of DVT and PE are significantly higher in IBD patients compared with risks in the general population.

WHAT IS CURRENT KNOWLEDGE:

Thromboembolic complications are easily overlooked in IBD patients.

WHAT IS NEW HERE:

The risks of DVT and PE are significantly higher in IBD patients.