Pericarditis associated with inflammatory bowel disease occurred in three patients. This is an uncommon extraintestinal complication of inflammatory bowel disease, but it is one that should not be overlooked and one that further emphasizes the systemic nature of these diseases. Two of the patients had ulcerative colitis, and a third had probable granulomatous colitis. All three patients recovered from the pericarditis; however, one patient had repeated exacerbations of the pericarditis requiring corticosteroid therapy. We recommend corticosteroid treatment for this complication.