Reducing diagnostic delays of extraintestinal manifestations in inflammatory bowel disease: a comparative study of a multidisciplinary outpatient clinic versus conventional referral specialists

Background: Managing extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients remains challenging due to considerable heterogeneity in diagnostic criteria and the lack of a standardised definition and validated diagnostic pathways. Delays in recognising and treating EIMs can lead to significant disease progression. Therefore, early detection and treatment are crucial. Objectives: We aimed to assess the effectiveness of a dedicated immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) clinic in reducing EIM diagnostic delays and improving patients’ outcomes. Design: A single-centre observational study was conducted, including IBD patients presenting with EIMs red flags. Methods: We compared the EIMs diagnostic delay between patients who attended a multidisciplinary IMID outpatient clinic (IMID-G) and those who attended individual referral specialists representing the standard outpatient clinic group (SOC-G). We further evaluated the impact of diagnostic timing on 18-month clinical outcomes, including therapeutic changes, steroid and immunosuppressant use and biological therapy switch/swap. Results: We enrolled 238 IBD patients, 127 in the IMID-G and 111 in the SOC-G. The average time to EIM diagnosis was 2.48 ± 1.8 and 5.36 ± 2.3 months for the IMID and SOC-Gs (Δ = 2.88 months, p  = 0.005). The majority of patients received a diagnosis of peripheral arthritis (IMID-G = 37.5%; SOC-G = 33.7%) and spondyloarthropathy (IMID-G = 32.1%; SOC-G = 33.7%). No significant difference was observed in the rates of EIMs between the two groups (88.2% in IMID-G vs 92.8% in SOC-G, p  = 0.27). Regarding therapeutic changes, the IMID-G reported a mean time to the first therapeutic change driven by the specialist referral of 2.96 ± 1.8 months, compared to 6.09 ± 2.5 months in the SOC-G, showing a significant difference ( p  = 0.007). The IMID-G had a higher frequency of biological therapy switching/swapping and adding immunosuppressive treatment than the SOC-G ( p  = 0.008 and p  = 0.04, respectively). Survival curves revealed a significant reduction in diagnostic delay and time to treatment in the IMID-G compared to the SOC-G (log-rank test, p  < 0.001). Conclusion: Attending a dedicated IMID clinic can enhance the diagnostic process for EIMs in IBD patients, thereby reducing diagnostic delays and allowing early interventions to avoid disease progression.