My daughter had arthritis symptoms years before the IBD flare. Her bloodwork was never consistent with an arthritis picture.
My husband has psoriatic arthritis, and his bloodwork is also not "picture perfect" for his diagnosis, has a few markers +, but most are (-), but based on his whole clinical picture, his rheumatologist treats him with Enbrel, and he's done well.
My sister in law also has sero-negative spondylitis, and doesn't have a "classic" lab picture. She is on Humira.
Daughter had an MRI that showed enthesitis and sacroiliitis... That's where her first dx came from, not labs.
I seem to know more people with arthritis who DON'T have wonky labs than DO.
I think that TNF meds do not need stopped for surgery (I know someone who recently was on Humira, etc. who needed bowel surgery) ... If you have arthritis, and it's unbearable, you could ask about them.