Bariatric Surgery Is Acceptably Safe in Obese Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients: Analysis of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample

Background: The prevalence of obesity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has increased over the past decades. Data to support the safety of bariatric surgery (BAR) in IBD remain scarce. Our aim was to evaluate the safety and early postoperative complications of BAR in IBD patients. Methods: We used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) 2011, 2012, and 2013 to perform a cohort study. The study group was all hospitalized patients between ages 18–90 years who underwent BAR with a discharge diagnosis of IBD as per the Ninth International Classification of Diseases codes (ICD-9). Adults who underwent BAR without ICD-9 codes of IBD were identified as the comparison group. Complications were compared using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: We identified 314,864 adult patients who underwent BAR between 2011 and 2013. Mean age was 45.5 ± 0.11 years, and 79% were females. Seven hundred and ninety patients had underlying IBD; 459 had Crohn’s disease and 331 had ulcerative colitis. The remaining patients formed the comparison group. Mean length of hospital stay (LOS) was longer in the IBD group by 1 day (p = 0.01). The IBD group had a significantly higher risk of perioperative small bowel obstruction (SBO) (adjusted odds ratio, 4.0; 95%, CI; 2.2–7.4). Other technical and systemic complications were similar between the two groups, with no mortality reported in the IBD group. Conclusions: BAR in IBD patients has an acceptable safety profile, with immeditae risk limited to perioperative SBO and an apparently low risk of mortality or other major immediate postoperative complications.