Guillain-Barré syndrome: a possible extraintestinal manifestation of ulcerative colitis.

In two elderly patients with ulcerative colitis, acute Guillain-Barré syndrome developed while the inflammatory bowel disease was in remission. The patients were treated with corticosteroids and recovered. Since both disorders are relatively uncommon, we suggest that the Guillain-Barré syndrome may have been causally related to the preexisting chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Guillain-Barré syndrome may be regarded as a possible extraintestinal complication of chronic ulcerative colitis.