Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Extraintestinal Manifestations and Cancer Edward V. Loftus, Jr., MD

Although ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are idiopathic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) that by definition affect the gastrointestinal tract, they are associated with a wide variety of systemic complications. Classically, such extraintestinal manifestations are defined as immune-mediated phenomena that affect the joints, eye, skin, or hepatobiliary tract, but they can be defined more broadly to include complications in other organ systems and complications that arise as a direct pathophysiologic consequence of extensive bowel inflammation or resection. This chapter reviews the most common extraintestinal manifestations, their relationship to activity of the underlying bowel disease, and their treatment.