introduction inflammatory bowel disease ibd is a term mainly used to describe two conditions ulcerative colitis and crohn s disease both ulcerative colitis and crohn s disease are long term chronic conditions that involve inflammation of the gut gastrointestinal tractntroduction inflammatory bowel disease ibd is a term mainly used to describe two conditions ulcerative colitis and crohn s disease both ulcerative colitis and crohn s disease are long term chronic conditions that involve inflammation of the gut gastrointestinal tract