Extraintestinal complications of inflammatory bowel disease.

Recent studies of extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have demonstrated the importance of genetic predisposition in the etiology of musculoskeletal and cutaneous manifestations. In addition, small studies have shown infliximab to be effective in treating troublesome EIMs, particularly in pyoderma gangrenosum. Other trials have examined the safety of cyclooxygenase-2-specific nonsteroidal inflammatory drugs in IBD. Further work has been done on osteoporosis in IBD, and the American Gastroenterological Association has published a technical review and management guidelines for osteoporosis in a range of gastrointestinal disorders. However, despite further publications, debate remains concerning whether IBD patients with osteoporosis have a significant increase in fracture risk, and whether the bone loss is related to the disease or to its treatment.