[Inflammatory bowel disease. Experience in 316 patients]

The incidence and prevalence of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) has increased.

To determine demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with IBD in a Chilean private hospital.

Review of a prospective registry of patients with IBD, started on 2012. It includes clinical, imaging, endoscopical and pathological information of patients.

Data of 316 patients with IBD, aged 16 to 86 years (56% females), were analyzed. Ulcerative Colitis (UC), Crohn´s and non-classifiable IBD were diagnosed in 230, 77 and 9 patients, respectively. The disease was diagnosed in 82% of patients in the period between 2002 and 2012. There was a peak in the diagnosis of both UC and CD between 20 and 39 years of age, without gender differences. The disease switched from UC to CD in six patients. In four, there was a change in disease behavior. Thirty eight patients were treated with biological therapy. The median lapse between the diagnosis and the use of biological therapy was 1 year in patients diagnosed after 2007, compared with 5.5 years among those patients diagnosed before 2007 (p = 0.001). There was a trend towards a higher requirement of surgery until 2006. Subsequently there was a stabilization of the requirement, concomitant with the incorporation of biological therapy.

An adequate registry of IBD patients is necessary to improve demographic and clinical characteristics. A national registry is needed to assess the epidemiological changes of IBD in Chile.