Increased prevalence of gout in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A population‐based study

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Arthritis is a recognized extra‐intestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Studies show altered uric acid metabolism in IBD. This study aims to investigate the association between IBD and gout. METHODS: We used a multi‐center database (Explorys Inc.) consisting of data from several US healthcare systems. We identified adults diagnosed with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) between 1999 and 2022. In this cohort, we identified patients diagnosed with gout. We collected demographic data and identified patients diagnosed with IBD‐associated arthritis and those who had intestinal resection. Risk factors associated with gout were collected. Multivariate analysis was used. RESULTS: Out of the 69 260 780 patients in the database, we identified 209 020 patients with UC (0.30%) of whom 9130 had gout (4.3%). Additionally, 249 480 had CD (0.36%) of whom 14 000 had gout (5.61%). Males were more prevalent in the UC and gout group than in the CD and gout group (58% vs 51%). After adjustment, CD was significantly associated with gout (odds ratio [OR] 1.68, confidence interval [CI]: 1.60–1.75). UC was also significantly associated with gout (OR 1.38, CI: 1.31–1.44). In subgroup analysis with intestinal resection, CD patients who had intestinal resection had higher association with gout versus those without surgery (OR 2.34, CI: 2.25–2.43). Similar increase was observed in the UC group with intestinal resection (OR 1.53, CI: 1.49–1.56). CONCLUSION: IBD is strongly associated with gout, with higher correlation observed with CD. Intestinal resection is associated with an increase in the risk of gout. Patients with IBD who present with new‐onset arthritis should be investigated for gout.