What are the most common EIMs of IBD

What is known

- Eims can occur in up to one third of ibd patients, most commonly involving dermatologic and musculoskeletal systems. ¹ - Mucocutaneous findings occur in 5-10% of ulcerative colitis and 20-75% of crohn's disease patients, most commonly erythema nodosum and pyoderma gangrenosum. ² - Eims commonly affect joints, skin, and eyes, and can also involve liver, lungs, and pancreas. ³ - Anemia is described as the most common extraintestinal manifestation, usually a combination of iron deficiency anemia and anemia of chronic disease. ^4,5

What is unknown / caveats

- Different sources label 'most common' differently. Musculoskeletal/dermatologic systems in some ^1,6, anemia in others ^4,5, liver disease in another ⁷ - 'most common' is claimed for several different systems across sources without a single unifying frequency ranking - Some manifestations parallel bowel activity (peripheral arthritis, erythema nodosum, episcleritis, oral aphthous ulcers) while others run an independent course (uveitis, ankylosing spondylitis) - Sources apply the "most common" label to different systems, so a single definitive ranking cannot be drawn from these excerpts.

## References

1. Fine S. Extraintestinal Manifestations of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. R I Med J (2013). 2022. PMID: 36300958.

2. [No authors listed]. Abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea in a 32-year-old woman. Cleve Clin J Med. 2017. PMID: 29173250.

3. Alhalabi M, Ali Deeb S, Ali F, Abbas A. Ulcerative colitis-associated bronchiectasis: A rare extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease: A case report. Medicine (Baltimore). 2022. PMID: 36042661.

4. Cavusoglu M, Usta AM, Urgancı N, Yıldırmak ZY, Kup H, Guller D. Evaluation of anemia at diagnosis and during follow-up in childhood inflammatory bowel diseases. Eur J Pediatr. 2025. PMID: 41109851.

5. Tulewicz-Marti E, Moniuszko A, Rydzewska G. Management of anemia in inflammatory bowel disease: a challenge in everyday clinical practice. Prz Gastroenterol. 2017. PMID: 29358991.

6. Levine JS, Burakoff R. Extraintestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2011. PMID: 21857821.

7. Jarmakiewicz-Czaja S, Gruszecka J, Filip R. What Do NAFLD, Liver Fibrosis, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Have in Common? Review of the Current Literature. Metabolites. 2023. PMID: 36984818.

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_Draft, generated by the IBDology RAG and not yet clinician-reviewed. Answers are grounded in the retrieved literature listed above; a high faithfulness score means the answer matches its sources, not that the sources are correct._