Bone loss in inflammatory Bowel disease: our multicentric study

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are at increased risk of developing disorder in bone and mineral metabolism The study was aimed to determine if inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a risk factor for osteoporosis in 103 adult patients. We included 103 IBD patients, 67 patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) and 36 with ulcerative colitis (UC). Bone mineral density was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We used T score to express bone loss (osteopenia: -2.5 SD <-1 SD, osteoporosis: T <-2.5 SD). Plain x-rays were examined to search for vertebral compression or spontaneous fractures before DEXA. Among the 103 patients, 47.7% exhibited osteopenia of the femoral neck and 62.3% of the lumbar spine, with no significant difference between CD and UC. The prevalence of osteoporosis of the lumbar spine was significantly higher in CD patients (41.2% versus 8.7%). Osteoporosis is frequent in IBD patients, especially in CD patients. Female gender, malnutrition (body mass index <20 kg/m2), disease course (>2 years) and active disease would be risk factors of bone mineral loss in IBD.