Purpose: There is a paucity of data regarding the benefits of bariatric surgery in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the role of bariatric surgery on clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients with IBD.
Materials and methods: The United States (US) National Inpatient Sample database was queried between 2004 and 2014 for discharges with co-diagnoses of morbid obesity and IBD. Hospitalizations with a history of prior-bariatric surgery were also identified. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included renal failure, under-nutrition, thromboembolic events, strictures, fistulae, length of stay, and hospitalization costs. Using Poisson regression, adjusted incidence risk ratios (IRR) were derived for clinical outcomes in patients with prior-bariatric surgery compared to those without bariatric surgery.
Results: Among 15,319 patients with a discharge diagnosis of IBD and morbid obesity, 493 patients (3.2%) had bariatric surgery. From 2004 to 2014, the proportion of obese IBD patients that underwent bariatric surgery declined (5.2 versus 3.1%). In a multivariable analysis, prior-bariatric surgery was associated with decreased IRR for renal failure, under-nutrition, and fistulae formation in morbidly obese IBD patients [(IRR 0.1; 95% CI 0.02-0.3; P < 0.001), (IRR 0.2; 95% CI 0.05-0.8; P = 0.03), and (IRR 0.1; 95% 0.2-08; P = 0.03), respectively]. Bariatric surgery did not influence mortality (P = 0.99).
Conclusions: Despite a gradual increase in morbid obesity among patients with IBD, there has been a decrease in proportion of overall bariatric surgeries. Bariatric surgery appears to reduce morbidity in obese patients with IBD.
Keywords: Bariatric surgery; Crohn’s disease (CD); Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); Obesity; Ulcerative colitis (UC); Weight loss.