Characteristics of Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease Who Develop Bloodstream Infection

Background: The causative microorganisms of bloodstream infec-tions (BSIs) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the clinical characteristics of these patients have not yet been fully identified. Therefore, this study investigated IBD patients who devel-oped BSI to determine their clinical characteristics and identify the BSI-causing bacteria. Methods: The subjects were IBD patients who developed bactere-mia between 2015 and 2019 at Fukuoka University Chikushi Hos-pital. The patients were divided into two groups according to IBD type (Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC)). The medical records of the patients were reviewed to determine their clinical back-grounds and identify the BSI-causing bacteria. Results: In total 95 patients, 68 CD and 27 UC patients were included in this study. The detection rates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aer-uginosa) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) were higher in the UC group than in the CD group (18.5% vs. 2.9%, P = 0.021; 11.1% vs. 0%, P = 0.019, respectively). Immunosuppressive drugs use was higher in the CD group than in the UC group (57.4% vs. 11.1%, P = 0.00003). Hospital stay length was longer in the UC group than in the CD group (15 vs. 9 days; P = 0.045). Conclusions: The causative bacteria of BSI and clinical backgrounds differed between patients with CD and UC. This study showed that P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae had higher abundance in UC patients at the onset of BSI. Furthermore, long-term hospitalized patients with UC required antimicrobial therapy against P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae.