Less than 1 in 10 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) obtain dermatologic care, according to a recent study. Given the increased risk of skin cancers among IBD patients, however, an emphasis on education, prevention, and screening merits attention. Researchers utilized a prospective, natural history IBD research registry to evaluate all outpatient healthcare encounters from 2010 to 2016. Gastrointestinal, dermatologic, and primary care visits per individual were identified. They found:

• Of the 2,127 IBD patients included, 452 (21.3%) utilized dermatology over the study period, and 55 (2.6%) had a total body skin examination at least once.
• The 452 patients incurred 1,633 dermatology clinic visits, 278 dermatologic procedures, and 1,108 dermatology telephone encounters.
• The most frequent indication was contact dermatitis or dermatitis.
• Factors associated with dermatology use were family history of skin cancer, employment, systemic steroids, longer disease duration, emergency room use, and the number of IBD-related clinic visits.
• Between 8.3 and 11% of IBD patients recommended for skin cancer screening visited dermatology each year, and the resulting incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer was 35.4/10,000 and melanoma was 6.56/10,000.