BACKGROUND & AIMS:

Few data are available on adverse events of pregnancy in women with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as ectopic pregnancy. We assessed the risk of ectopic pregnancy in pregnancies of women in Denmark with IBD compared with those without IBD over a 22-year period. We also examined the disease-specific risks of ectopic pregnancies in pregnancies of women with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD) who underwent IBD-related surgical procedures.

METHODS:

We performed a retrospective study of all women of child-bearing age (ages, 15-50 y) registered in the Danish National Patient Registry with at least 1 pregnancy during the period from January 1994 through December 31, 2015. We collected data on all women with an ectopic pregnancy, hydatidiform mole, miscarriages (spontaneous and other abortions, including abnormal pregnancy products, missed abortion, and pregnancy without a fetus), induced abortions, and births in women with and without IBD. Our study population included 7548 pregnancies in women with UC, 6731 pregnancies in women with CD, and 1,832,732 pregnancies in women without IBD. We controlled for multiple covariates, including pelvic and abdominal surgery.

RESULTS:

Women with CD had a greater risk of ectopic pregnancy, per pregnancy, than women without IBD (odds ratio [OR], 1.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.49), whereas women with UC did not (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.80-1.20). In pregnancies of women with CD and UC who underwent IBD-related surgery before pregnancy, there was a nonsignificant increase in risk of ectopic pregnancy compared with pregnancies in women with IBD who did not have surgery (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.91-2.44 for CD, and OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.54-2.52 for UC).

CONCLUSIONS:

We found a statistically significant increased risk of ectopic pregnancy in pregnancies of women with CD compared with pregnancies of women without IBD. Surgery for IBD before pregnancy increased the risk of ectopic pregnancy, although this increase was not statistically significant.