Extraintestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease
(IBD) have been joined with almost every system. Over
100 extraintestinal manifestations have been described.
Many of these problems are common in Crohns disease
and ulcerative colitis but they are more prevalent in Crohns
disease than in ulcerative colitis.
The incidence of extraintestinal manifestations has been
estimated from 20% to 40%. It has been shown that if a
patient presents with one manifestation, the possibility to
develop one more is greater than that expected by chance.
This phenomenon suggests a common pathophysiological
mechanism of all these conditions. The exact pathophysiological
mechanism of extraintestinal manifestations is not
known, but generally they could be chronic immune reactions
to circulating autoantibodies.
For educational reasons, extraintestinal manifestations
may be divided into two groups, manifestations associated
with active bowel disease (either small or large) and
problems that occur independently of the presence of inflammation.
(EN)
Medical and Health Sciences ▶ Clinical Medicine Gastroenterology
(EN)
Hellenic Society of Gastroenterology
