Findings from a recent retrospective cohort study strengthens the evidence that 2 inflammatory conditions—hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)—are truly associated and establishes their joint effect on overall morbidity, mortality, and resource utilization. Researchers used the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database for the years 2004 through 2014. All patients with ICD-9 CM codes for any diagnosis of IBD and HS were included. The primary outcome was the medical and financial burden of HS on patients with IBD. They found:

• A total of 3,079,332 admissions with IBD were recorded, of which 4,369 had a concomitant diagnosis of HS.
• IBD-HS patients were significantly younger and mostly African-American females; they were more likely to be smokers, obese, and have diabetes mellitus, depression, and anemia.
• There was no mortality difference between the IBD-HS and IBD-only groups; nevertheless, there was a higher likelihood of developing sepsis in the IBD-HS cohort (4.9% vs 2.6%).
• Patients with IBD-HS had an increased hospital length of stay (5 vs 4 days) and higher total hospitalization costs ($13,272 vs $12,237).