Inflammatory bowel disease.

Abstract

Idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease consists of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Crohn's disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the anus, and is also known as regional enteritis, terminal ileitis, or granulomatous colitis. Ulcerative colitis is limited to the colon and rectal involvement is present 95% of the time. Ten percent to fifteen percent of patients with irritable bowel syndrome cannot be clearly defined as having either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and are termed indeterminate colitis.