Patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been seen to have an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) for over 75 years.
A new comprehensive study of over 270,000 surgery patients, of whom over 2000 had IBD, found that those patients with IBD had an increased risk of post-operative thromboembolism within thirty days of surgery than those who were not suffering from IBD. The researchers, publishing in JAMA Archives of Surgery, found that the risk of DVT and PE was higher in patients with the bowel disorder but the risk of suffering a myocardial infarction or stroke were not increased.
Surprisingly the risks were even higher in IBD sufferers who were undergoing non-intestinal surgery. Patients with IBD frequently require surgical intervention and it is therefore important that these patients are given DVT and PE prevention.
