Inflammatory arthritis complicated by inflammatory bowel disease: two case reports

Coexistence of inflammatory arthritis disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is often considered to be relatively rare, and the underlying mechanisms of the association between them remain unclear. Herein, we report two cases of IBD which occurred during the course of inflammatory arthritis disease. The first case had psoriatic arthritis (PsA) for two and a half years complicated by Crohn's disease and accompanied by inactive carrier state of hepatitis B. The second case had rheumatoid arthritis (RA) complicated by ulcerative colitis four years after the onset of RA. In both cases, colonoscopy was performed, and their clinical presentations improved with a multidisciplinary approach. In the event of complaints related to the gastrointestinal tract in patients with PsA or RA, IBD should be kept in mind, and the clinical evaluation and multidisciplinary interventions should be planned to control the underlying autoimmune process.