Skin gangrene as an extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel diseases can commonly present many cutaneous lesions which cancontribute to the diagnosis of the disease or its activity. The most frequentcutaneous or mucocutaneous manifestations suggesting ulcerative rectocolitis activityare erythema nodosum (3-10%), pyoderma gangrenosum (5-12%) and aphthous stomatitis(4%). Other reactive skin manifestations related to immunological mechanismsassociated with the inflammatory bowel disease are: Sweet''s syndrome,arthritis-dermatitis syndrome associated with inflammatory bowel disease andleukocytoclastic vasculitis. We describe the case of a young man with diagnosis ofulcerative rectocolitis, which presented an extensive cutaneous gangrene secondary tomicrovascular thrombosis. The case represents a dermatologic rarity and should berecognized as a cutaneous manifestation related to the hypercoagulability stateobserved in the disease''s activity.