Benign Exocrine Pancreatic Diseases in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

BACKGROUND

Data regarding the involvement of the pancreas during the course of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are scarce and conflicting.

AIM

To assess the frequency of benign pancreatic diseases, that is, acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis (CP), and autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP), in a population with IBD.

METHODS

A search for patients with IBD who presented at our hospital between January 2006 and January 2015 with a diagnosis of IBD was carried out.

PATIENTS

A total of 5,242 patients with IBD were included in this study (2,838 males, 54.1%, and 2,404 females, 45.9%, mean age 43.7 years, range 18-101 years). Of these 5,242 patients, 3,201 (61.1%) had Crohn's disease and 2,041 (38.9%) had ulcerative colitis (UC).

RESULTS

Thirteen patients developed benign pancreatic diseases (0.2%). Eight patients had acute pancreatitis (0.2%; 4 in the Crohn's disease group and 4 in the UC group), 3 had CP (0.1%, 2 in the Crohn's disease group and 1 in the UC group), 2 had AIP (0.04%), all in the group of diffuse UC (p = 0.321).

CONCLUSIONS

The frequency of benign pancreatic disease was not high in patients with IBD and was probably similar to that seen in the general population.