Baseline Laboratory Parameters for Assessment of Iron Deficiency in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Iron deficiency (ID) and its late stage, iron deficiency anaemia, are often overlooked conditions in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The study is primarily aimed at the need for first-phase screening for ID in patients with IBD using laboratory baseline parameters such as ferritin and C-reactive protein (CRP). Laboratory data of 4558 unique patients with IBD was analysed. For first-phase screening of ID, the thresholds of serum ferritin < 30 µg/l in the absence of inflammation (CRP < 5 mg/l) and serum ferritin < 100 µg/l in the presence of inflammation (CRP > 5 mg/l) were used. The study revealed that ferritin analysis was conducted for only one third of the enrolled unique patients with IBD over a five-year period. First-phase ID screening showed that decrease in ferritin values was found in 56% of unique IBD patients over this period, as determined using CRP and ferritin during the same blood collection (same referral number). Haemoglobin (Hb) tests were performed in 93% of unique IBD patients in the five-year period. A decrease in Hb was found in 21% of unique patients with Crohn’s disease, 20% of patients with ulcerative colitis, and in 5% of patients with unspecified non-infective gastroenteritis and colitis.