A study published Online First by Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals reveals that patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) undergoing surgery may be more susceptible to develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) following surgical procedures. Deep vein thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot in a vein deep inside the body, usually in the legs, while PE is a sudden blockage of an artery in the lung.

According to background information in the article:

“An increased risk of DVT and PE in patients with IBD has been evident for the past 75 years. Most work in this area has not looked specifically at patients undergoing surgery. Patients with IBD frequently require surgical intervention, and an understanding of their risk of venous thromboembolism is therefore an important issue.”

Andrea Merrill, M.D., from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Frederick Millham, M.D. from the Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Boston decided to investigate whether IBD patients had a higher risk of DVT or PE after surgery and evaluated 2008 data from 211 hospitals that participated in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP). They compared 2,249 (0.8%) of the 268,703 patients that suffered from IBD with 269,119 patients without IBD. Amongst all patients 1.0%, i.e. 2,665 cases of DVT or PE were reported.

According to the researchers findings, cases of DVT or PE were overall 2.5% more common in IBD patients whilst non-intestinal surgical cases had a 5% higher DVT or PE rate. Researchers noted no effect on risk of postoperative myocardial infarction (heart attack) or stroke in IBD patients.

In a final statement the researchers say:

“In conclusion, this study of patients enrolled in the NSQIP database demonstrates that patients with IBD who undergo surgery have a two-fold increased risk of DVT or PE. In patients with IBD who are having non-intestinal surgery, this risk may be even higher. These findings suggest that standard DVT and PE prophylaxis [prevention] should be reconsidered for this patient group.

Written by Petra Rattue