Psychiatric morbidity after surgery for inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review

AIM: To examine the evidence about psychiatric morbidity after inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-related surgery.

METHODS: PRISMA guidelines were followed and a protocol was published at PROSPERO (CRD42016037600). Inclusion criteria were studies describing patients with inflammatory bowel disease undergoing surgery and their risk of developing psychiatric disorder.

RESULTS: Twelve studies (including 4340 patients) were eligible. All studies were non-randomized and most had high risk of bias. Patients operated for inflammatory bowel disease had an increased risk of developing depression, compared with surgical patients with diverticulitis or inguinal hernia, but not cancer. In addition, patients with Crohn's disease had higher risk of depression after surgery compared with non-surgical patients. Patients with ulcerative colitis had higher risk of anxiety after surgery compared with surgical colorectal cancer patients. Charlson comorbidity score more than three and female gender were independent predictors for depression and anxiety following surgery.

CONCLUSION: The review cannot give any clear answer to the risks of psychiatric morbidity after surgery for IBD studies with the lowest risk of bias indicated an increased risk of depression among surgical patients with Crohn's disease and increased risk of anxiety among patients with ulcerative colitis.