Extraintestinal manifestations in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: focus on epidemiology

Objective. To assess the prevalence and spectrum of extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) followed at the North-Western Centre for the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) of the North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov. Material and methods. This single-centre, cross-sectional observational study included 258 patients with an established diagnosis of IBD: 118 patients with UC and 140 patients with CD. Participants were enrolled between 2023 and 2026. Data on EIMs were obtained from medical records, the centre’s patient registry, and reports provided by relevant medical specialists. The Mann—Whitney U test, Pearson’s χ² test, and Fisher’s exact test were used for between-group comparisons. Results. EIMs were documented in 111 of 258 patients, corresponding to a prevalence of 43.0% (95% [CI], 36.9—49.3). The most common manifestations were arthropathies, reported in 80 patients, and aphthous stomatitis, reported in 29 patients. Erythema nodosum, ankylosing spondylitis, iridocyclitis, pyoderma gangrenosum, and primary sclerosing cholangitis were substantially less frequent. Patients with CD were younger than those with UC: the median age was 35.0 [30.0; 44.2] years and 41.5 [30.0; 54.0] years, respectively (p=0.036). EIMs were identified in 47.9% of patients with CD and 37.3% of patients with UC; however, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.114). Conclusion. EIMs were documented in more than 40% of patients with IBD, with articular and oral mucosal involvement being the most common. These findings highlight the importance of targeted screening for EIMs and multidisciplinary management of patients with IBD.