Inflammatory Bowel Disease Flashcards
What is inflammatory bowel disease?
Group of condition characterised by idiopathic inflammation of the GI tract
What are the 2 common types of inflammatory bowel disease?
Crohn’s disease
Ulcerative colitis
Location of Crohn’s disease
- Affects anywhere in GI tract: terminal ileum in most cases + rarely affects rectum
- Skip lesions (multiple places)
- transmural (full thickness)
Location of ulcerative colitis
Begins in rectum
Can extend to involve the entire colon
Continuous pattern
Presentation of Crohn’s disease
- weight loss
- right lower quadrant pain
- low grade fever
- mildly anaemic
- perianal inflammation/ulceration/lesions e.g. skin tags, fistulae, abscesses, scarring
- multiple non-bloody loose stools a day
- 15-30 year olds
Presentation of ulcerative colitis
- multiple blood stools per day
- mild abdominal pain
- no perianal disease
- normal temperature
- 20-30 year olds
Skin changes in inflammatory bowel disease
Erythema nodosum
Pyoderma gangrenosum
Psoriasis
What other symptoms can you get if you have inflammatory bowel disease other than the GI?
- arthritis
- MSK pain
- skin problems: erythema nodosum, pyoderma gangrenosum, psoriasis
- primary sclerosing cholangitis
- uveitis
Causes of inflammatory bowel disease
- genetic pre-disposition
- gut organisms
- immune response
- triggers: antibiotics, infection, diet
Affect of smoking on Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
- worsens Crohn’s disease
- can be beneficial to ulcerative colitis
What is a fistula?
Abnormal connection between two epithelial lined things
Classic microscopic presentation of Crohn’s disease
Epitheloid granuloma formation
What are people with Crohn’s disease likely to have that those with UC don’t?
Perianal disease
e.g. skin tags, fistula, abscesses, scarring
Investigation of IBD
- FBC: anaemic
- U&Es: possibly deranged electrolytes or AKI due to GI losses
- stool sample: exclude infective colitis
- CT/MRI scan: bowel wall thickening, obstruction
- barium enema/follow through
- colonoscopy
- flexible sigmoidoscopy
What is the safest test in cases of bloody diarrhoea?
flexible sigmoidoscopy