Ayoung man presents reporting diarrhea, fecal urgency, and weight loss. his stool is light-coloured and malodorous, and it tends to float and be difficult to flush. he has also noted tender, red bumps on his shins and reports pain and stiffness in his elbows and knees. sigmoidoscopy reveals discontinuous, granulomatous lesions; no blood is detected in his stool. which diagnosis would his care team first suspect?

Based on the salient features and the laboratories of this patient, this is a case of Crohn's disease. Crohn's disease is type of chronic inflammatory bowel disease or IBD along with ulcerative colitis. Crohn's disease usually presents with diarrhea, abdominal pain, and significant weight loss. Pathologically, it is characterized by "skip-lesions" or discontinuous granulomatous that occurs on all layers of the bowel (transmural); with the involvement of the whole gastrointestinal tract. Patients with Crohn's disease have a significant risk in developing colorectal cancer.