Clostridium Difficile Infection in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at increased risk for developing symptomatic Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) with worse clinical outcomes, including mortality, as compared with the general population. IBD-patients are also more susceptible to have recurrences of CDI. At present, predisposing factors for CDI in IBD-patients are poorly established. To characterize IBD-related CDI, a retrospective cohort from HUS register was gathered. Patient characteristics were compared with two control groups: IBD-patients with CDI and CDI-patients. According to our results, there was no statistically significant difference in mortality rate between IBD- and CDI-patients in contrary to previous reports. We detected corticosteroid consumption in IBD patients with CDI to be greater than in patient with IBD alone. It could be considered as a risk factor for CDI. Clarifying risk factors for CDI could lead to better understanding of optimal treatment for CDI in IBD patients