RESEARCH - Inflammatory arthritides of the spine: surgical versus nonsurgical treatment

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Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2006 Feb;443:208-21.

Inflammatory arthritides of the spine: surgical versus nonsurgical

treatment.

Washington University Medical Center, Arthritis and Rheumatism

Associates, Washington, DC 20006, USA. Dborenstein715@...

Ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis are disorders that cause

marked alterations in the structure and function of the axial skeleton.

Ankylosing spondylitis causes calcification of spinal structures causing

limited motion. Rheumatoid arthritis causes synovial hypertrophy, joint

destruction, and spinal instability. Surgical therapy for patients with

ankylosing spondylitis corrects angular deformities with spinal osteotomies,

and stabilization for spinal fractures. Spinal operative therapy for

rheumatoid arthritis concentrates on correction of abnormal motion in the

cervical spine. Advances in the medical therapy of spondyloarthritis have

resulted in control of the inflammation of the axial skeleton halting the

damage to spinal structures. The new biologic therapies for ankylosing

spondylitis prevent progression of disease. Similarly, these same biologic

therapies can also control the progression of rheumatoid arthritis including

the cervical spine. The new medical therapies are very effective in

preventing joint damage. The need for surgical intervention for patients

with ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis will become a rare

event in the setting of the new medical therapies for these inflammatory

arthropathies.

PMID: 16462444

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Retrieve & dopt=Abstra\

ctPlus & list_uids=16462444

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