Pain Management in IBD

Madhusudan Grover, MD, and Douglas A Drossman, MD

Patients with IBD commonly suffer from abdominal pain. While the pain may originate from worsening inflammation and/or its complications, chronic pain in IBD can have multiple influences. In particular, chronic pain is frequently driven by dysregulation of neurophysiological processes at spinal and supraspinal levels, and thus can be influenced by psychosocial factors that upregulate central pain control systems. This article details the pathophysiology of chronic pain in IBD and treatment strategies.

Management of the Extraintestinal Manifestations of IBD

Horace Williams, BSc, MB, MRCP, and Tim Orchard, MA, MD, FRCP

IBD is complicated by inflammation at sites distant from the bowel in a large number of patients. In some cases, these extraintestinal events are transient and settle with treatment of the underlying gut disease; however, in a proportion, the extraintestinal features can be severe and persistent, causing as much morbidity as the underlying disease and sometimes even more. This article reviews the common extraintestinal manifestations seen in IBD and the treatments currently available to minimize their impact.

Commentary and Analysis on Recent Key Papers

Federico Balzola, MD, and Charles Bernstein, MD

Digestive Disease Week 2009: Key Updates in IBD Basic Science

Rekha R Garg, PhD, Joseph R Mercado, and Theresa T Pizarro, PhD