Extraintestinal features

As ulcerative colitis is a systemic disease, patients may present with symptoms and complications outside the colon. These include the following:

• aphthous ulcers of the mouth
• Ophthalmic (involving the eyes):
  • Iritis or uveitis, which is inflammation of the iris
  • Episcleritis
• Musculoskeletal:
  • Seronegative arthritis, which can be a large-joint oligoarthritis (affecting one or two joints), or may affect many small joints of the hands and feet
  • Ankylosing spondylitis, arthritis of the spine
  • Sacroiliitis, arthritis of the lower spine
• Cutaneous (related to the skin):
  • Erythema nodosum, which is a panniculitis, or inflammation of subcutaneous tissue involving the lower extremities
  • Pyoderma gangrenosum, which is a painful ulcerating lesion involving the skin
• Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism
• autoimmune hemolytic anemia
• clubbing, a deformity of the ends of the fingers
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis, or inflammation of the bile duct