The role of integrated gastro-rheumatological care in IBD-associated Spondyloarthritis in achieving joint–gut remission: Four-year outcomes from the real-world SPIB cohort

BACKGROUND: Spondyloarthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease (Spa-IBD) often requires a customised multidisciplinary approach. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term outcomes of a cohort of SpA-IBD patients with a multidisciplinary management. METHODS: Consecutive patients with SpA-IBD were assessed at our multidisciplinary Gastro-Rheumatological Clinic and enrolled in the SPIB (SpA in Inflammatory Bowel Disease) cohort. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving remission in both intestinal and articular domains at four years. Secondary outcomes included the cohort's baseline clinical features, progressive improvement in disease activity scores, treatment patterns, and predictors of remission. RESULTS: The cohort includes 159 patients (58% Crohn's disease, 42% ulcerative colitis). At baseline, 56% of patients were diagnosed with axial SpA-IBD, and 44% with peripheral SpA-IBD. At baseline, 0.6% of patients were in combined intestinal and articular remission, and this proportion gradually increased to 5.7% at six months and 26.3% at four years. Clinical outcomes at 4 years included improvements in TJC (Δ-3.8), SJC (Δ-1.0), LEI score (Δ-0.3), DAPSA remission status (+36.0%), ASDAS inactive disease status (+38.0%), and remission status for CDAI (+19.3%) and pMayo (+26.2%) scores. At 2 years, bDMARD therapy increased by 36%, while corticosteroid use decreased by 35%. In multivariable analysis, male gender predicted remission during follow-up (OR 2.80, 95% CI 1.21-6.76), whereas axial disease (OR 0.41, 0.17-0.96) and enthesitis (OR 0.26, 0.11-0.59) were negative predictors. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term results of the SPIB cohort highlight the value of close collaboration between rheumatologists and gastroenterologists in the application of joint-gut remission strategies.