Pain management in people with inflammatory arthritis: British Society for Rheumatology guideline scope

Scott, Ian; Babatunde, Opeyemi; Barker, Christopher; Beesley, Richard; Beesley, Rebecca; Birkinshaw, Hollie; Brooke, Mel; Chaplin, Hema; Chapman, Lara; Ciurtin, Coziana; Dale, James; Dockrell, Dervil; Dures, Emma; Harrison, Kathryn; Jani, Meghna; Lee, Charlotte; McCarron, Maura; Mallen, Christian; O’Connor, Assie; Pidgeon, Claire; Pincus, Tamar; Pratt, Dee; Prior, Yeliz; Raza, Karim; Rutter-Locher, Zoe; D Sharma, Seema; Shaw, Katie; Small, Samantha; Smith, Tilli; Tiffin, Lesley; Tsigarides, Jordan; Xenophontos, Mikalena; Shenker, Nicholas

Abstract

Lay Summary: What does this mean for patients? Inflammatory arthritis includes conditions causing swollen and painful joints. The main types are rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. It is common, affecting over 1 in 100 adults and 4 in 10 000 children and young people in the UK. Despite the availability of effective medicines to reduce joint inflammation, many people with inflammatory arthritis continue to experience daily pain. This has a great impact on their lives. They often receive strong pain medicines called opioids, despite little evidence that they help pain in inflammatory arthritis. The British Society for Rheumatology is the UK’s main medical society for healthcare professionals providing care to people with inflammatory arthritis. It provides guidelines that recommend how healthcare professionals can best treat people with specific conditions. This paper outlines the plan to develop the first guideline from the British Society for Rheumatology about how pain should be managed in people with inflammatory arthritis. It will be developed by a group of people from many backgrounds (including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, podiatrists, occupational therapists, psychologists, pharmacists and people with inflammatory arthritis) and will be based on the best available research, identified by reviewing published studies in a systematic way.

Citation

Scott, I., Babatunde, O., Barker, C., Beesley, R., Beesley, R., Birkinshaw, H., …Shenker, N. (in press). Pain management in people with inflammatory arthritis: British Society for Rheumatology guideline scope. Rheumatology Advances in Practice, 8(4), rkae128. https://doi.org/10.1093/rap/rkae128

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 4, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Nov 19, 2024
• Deposit Date: Oct 14, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 19, 2024
• Journal: Rheumatology Advances in Practice
• Print ISSN: 2514-1775
• Electronic ISSN: 2514-1775
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 4
• Pages: rkae128
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rap/rkae128
• Keywords: pain, pharmacological, psoriatic arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, non-pharmacological, analgesic, axial spondyloarthritis, inflammatory arthritis