Spine fracture risk may be increased in IBD patients

Although patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) aren’t at greater risk for fractures overall, they may be at greater risk of fractures in the spine, results of a recent meta-analysis suggest.

Moreover, fracture risk appears to be higher among IBD patients using steroids, according to a report published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology by Yuga Komaki, MD, of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, University of Chicago, and coauthors.

“Further studies addressing the differential risk among Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are needed, but strict surveillance and prevention of spine fractures are indicated in IBD,” wrote Dr. Komaki and associates.

^{PALMIHELP/Getty Images}

The systematic review and meta-analysis by Dr. Komaki and colleagues was based on 10 studies comprising 470,541 patients with IBD for whom the risk of fracture was reported.

“It is of importance to identify the risk of fractures, as it will increase patient morbidity, disability, and mortality,” the authors wrote. “However, it is often overlooked in the management of IBD.”

Results of the analysis by this group of researchers showed that there was no significant difference in fracture risk overall between IBD patients and controls (odds ratio, 1.08; 95% confidence interval, 0.72-1.62; P = .70).

By contrast, the OR for spine fractures was significantly elevated (OR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.39-3.50; P less than .0001), while risk of hip, rib, and wrist fractures were not, Dr. Komaki and coauthors said in their report.