Joint involvement is the most commom extraintestinal manifestation in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The colitic arthritis, lately called enteropathic arthritis, is classified as one of the diseases of the spondyloarthropathies group. There are two patterns of joint involvement: 1) peripheral arthritis, usually coincides with exacerbations of the inflammatory bowel disease and is not associated with the HLA B27 antigen; and 2) axial involvement, characterized by spondylitis and sacroiliitis, which the clinical course is independent of the intestinal disease, and has an association with HLA B27.
arthritis; inflammatory bowel disease; spondyloarthropathy; Crohn's disease; ulcerative colitis
