Primary Care of the Patient with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease involves 2 major disorders, ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease, both of which are due to inflammatory dysregulation in the gastrointestinal tract. Although these disorders have many overlapping features in pathophysiology and management, our current understanding of inflammatory bowel disease has illuminated several distinguishing features of the 2 diseases. This article highlights similarities and differences most applicable to a primary care physician's practice. Also detailed are disease-related and treatment-related complications, and routine health maintenance practices for the patient with inflammatory bowel disease.