The Institute of Digestive Disease (IDD) is now creating a Hong Kong Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) Registry ('Nixon-TAM IBD Registry') to estimate the total number of affected patients and collect more information on IBD in Hong Kong. IBD is a non-infectious chronic disease of the intestine. Its actual cause remains unknown and no cure has been found at present. Patients often suffer from irregular bowel movements with blood and mucus, severe diarrhea, and abdominal pain. In severe cases, serious complications such as acute ballooning of the bowel ('toxic megacolon') or intestinal perforation may occur. About two-thirds of these patients require at least one operation in their lifetime. It also discovered that Hong Kong and Macau are among the top three regions in the world with the highest incidence of IBD in recent years.

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